Bishop Larry Silva celebrates a televised, pre-recorded Easter Sunday Mass at noon April 12 in the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace. Government restrictions on public gatherings due to the coronavirus required religious services to be livestreamed over the internet or broadcast. This Mass was shown on KHNL. According to the TV station, 11,000 households tuned in and the broadcast received a strong 2.6 Nielsen rating. (Screenshot)
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Bishop Larry Silva’s “biggest burden” arising from the coronavirus pandemic was “making the decision to cancel public liturgies.” He first did that on March 17 for two weeks, prompted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendation that gatherings of 50 or more be canceled and the advice of local health and government officials.
He extended the ban until April 30 as government guidance turned into stricter “stay at home” orders, effectively revoking the public observance of Holy Week and Easter. He was not alone. Pope Francis, and virtually every diocesan bishop in the world did the same.
The prohibition is expected to continue for an undetermined length of time.
The bishop reflected on the unprecedented events of the last two months in an April 16 email interview with the Hawaii Catholic Herald.
The ban on gathering for worship “is a burden mostly on the faithful who are not able to participate in the Eucharist,” he said, “but the decision is certainly burdensome to me.”
Bishop Silva did say he was heartened by the “very positive” response to the livestreaming of services over the internet that replaced the public liturgies, however, “no one pretends that this is in any way optimal.”
Confessing it is “weird” preaching to a camera, he said, “the only saving grace is knowing that through that camera lens I am actually reaching hundreds or thousands of people with the Gospel of Jesus.”
In the interview, the bishop also discussed the good he is seeing emerge from the pandemic. “I am often amazed at how many of our people and parishes have outreach programs to the poor and needy,” he said, “but this time of the pandemic has brought even more generosity and heroism.”
