Govt OK with boozing till dawn, not midnight mass

Govt OK with boozing till dawn, not midnight mass

Christians fume over forced wrap-up of mass on open grounds much before Christ was born

While midnight masses on open grounds have not been allowed for a while now, come every Christmas, the fact that they can’t have it at midnight continues to dishearten the city’s Christians. And it is for this reason that they ask why the government can’t think of doing something along the lines of what it does for the New Year’s Eve. “We understand that the rules need to be followed. But what I don’t understand is that if the government can relax rules for New Year celebrations and revelry, why can’t norms be relaxed for a solemn thing like mass service,” said Anil Joseph, a resident of Bandra. Churches that conduct masses indoors can have them and continue to do so at midnight. But, as per the rules, masses cannot be held in open after midnight. This, despite the certain number of days on which the sound restriction is eased. Otherwise, the sound restrictions make sure that loudspeakers can’t be used after 10pm. “The mass is supposed to start at midnight as that is when Jesus was born. Anywhere in the world it is at midnight. It is a tradition that has been going on. At St. Pius Church, where I go for mass, it wraps up by midnight. Earlier, it would start at midnight. There’s a reason why it’s called midnight mass,” said Thomas Anthony, a resident of Mulund. “It is awkward to have mass at a time before Christ was born. Though we did write a letter in this regard to the government, it was late to take it up with it. Also, the session was in Nagpur and most of the leaders were there. It is better to meet the chief minister,” said Joseph Dias of the Catholic Secular Forum.