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The Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Savannah FIND RESOURCES TO HELP YOU LIVE OUT YOUR FAITH AT DIOSAV. ORG/FAITH Vol. 100 No. 08 Thursday, April 16, 2020 Put Faith in Your Opinions southerncros-sav.org Parishes throughout the diocese celebrated the Holy Week services in a myriad of ways despite the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine. See page 16 for photographs of celebrations from around the diocese. Above, Aquinas High School’s announcement on its public sign proclaimed an undeniable truth. U.S. bishops deliver Easter messages online congregations WASHINGTON (CNS) n Easter, a day when churches are typically full and congregations are more dressed up than usual, bishops and priests around the country celebrated Masses in empty cathedrals and churches looking out to rows of vacant pews and a phone or camera recording the Mass. In keeping with federal and local guidelines restricting public gatherings, Catholics, like members of other faiths, stayed home on Easter, as they have for other recent Sundays, and turned on their computers to join April 12 Masses livestreamed by their parish or diocese. Many homilies reflected the current moment of physical suffering and the sadness of forced isolation while acknowledging the significance of coming together, even remotely, on this important day in the church’s liturgical year. But above all, church leaders emphasized the Easter message of new life, stressing th,at believers’ hope of hope to in the resurrection is crucial during this time of pandemic, that finding life after death or times of darkness and struggle was part of the church’s very essence. Prayers of the faithful during these livestreamed Masses also sought healing for those sickened by COVID-19 and protection for those in the health profession and essential workers.