Lourdes: Pilgrims flock to French sanctuary online in their millions
In normal times around 15,000 Christian pilgrims a day would be visiting the Sanctuary of Lourdes at this time of year. But Lourdes, as everywhere, has had to change with the times.
The most visited site is the grotte, or cave, where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared in front of a young girl collecting firewood in 1858. Many are attracted by that story - and very ill pilgrims are drawn by the miraculous healings that are said to have occurred there.
Nowadays as few as 30 people kneel for afternoon prayers in front of a statue of a Virgin Mary at the cave entrance. This would once have been unthinkable, but the pandemic and restrictions imposed last year have brought pilgrimages to a dramatic halt.
Jump in audiences
Lourdes has a population of just 14,000, but before Covid the sanctuary attracted around 3.5 million, mainly Catholic, visitors a year. So Church authorities decided to reach out to the faithful with what are being called e-pilgrimages.
All day long, radio and TV broadcasts of services and prayers at the grotte are shown on Lourdes TV and rebroadcast by France's national Catholic Church TV channel KTO, which also broadcasts worldwide to francophone countries.
The services are also re-broadcast live on both radio and television outlets on five continents, according to the sanctuary.
Mathias Terrier, who is head of the Lourdes Sanctuary studio facilities, said they had always broadcast certain prayer services but viewer numbers have jumped from one million to five million a day. Followers on social media have soared by 40%.
"Every day services are held in four languages - French, Italian, English and Spanish; on some days we even have priests who can give masses in Korean or Chinese," he told the BBC. "We hold Facebook Live events at the sanctuary and our social media accounts memberships have risen by more than 40% in the past year."
Temporary fix for pilgrims
The priests start their services in front of the grotte, saying: "Even though there are few of us here physically, welcome to all those following us globally from their homes via internet, radio or TV."
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