Wollongong Diocese is the new producer of Mass for You at Home, beaming Mass into living rooms across the country each week from Easter Sunday.
Mass has been broadcast on free-to-air television for decades, providing spiritual nourishment for people who are not able to attend Mass in person. With COVID-19 restrictions dramatically increasing the number of people in this situation, the need for virtually accessible worship services has never been greater.
Wollongong Bishop Brian Mascord said the diocese was very excited to be entrusted with producing Mass for people who are homebound, without internet, or in prison, aged care facilities and hospitals, as well as those flicking through the channels on a Sunday morning.
“In parishes across the country, people are trying their best to make the celebration of the Mass something that is beautiful, prayerful and a source of strength,” Bishop Mascord said.
“Those principles, which sound simple and yet are profound, will be the motivation for our team’s production, which will seek to deliver an experience that comforts, inspires and uplifts people.”
Bishop Mascord expressed his gratitude to Melbourne Archdiocese, which provided online Masses while the Wollongong Diocese paused its own online production to focus on the tender process.
Mass for You at Home, which is highly valued by the deaf community thanks to the inclusion of AUSLAN interpreters, had previously been broadcast on free-to-air television at no charge. However, a change to the religious programming quotas for commercial channels several years ago saw the cost of broadcasting and production increase from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Debra Vermeer, the interim chair of the Mass for You at Home National Transition Committee, said a fundraising campaign for the production of the Mass will launch soon.
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Diocese of Wollongong set to produce Network Ten’s Mass For You At Home (Wollongong Diocese)
