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Singing hymns through masks, Christians mark pandemic Easter

Vatican Pope Easter
Posted at 7:32 AM, Apr 04, 2021
and last updated 2021-04-04 10:32:11-04

VATICAN CITY — Christianity’s most joyous feast day is being celebrated worldwide with faithful sitting far apart in pews and singing choruses of “Hallelujah” through face coverings for the second Easter Sunday in a row.

From Protestant churches in South Korea to St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, worshippers observed an Easter shaped by the pandemic.

In Jerusalem, air travel restrictions and quarantine regulations prevented foreign pilgrims from flocking to religious sites during Holy Week even though Israel has launched one of the world’s most successful vaccination campaigns.

At the Vatican, the 200 or so faithful who were allowed to attend Easter Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica looked lost in the cavernous cathedral.