- Title: Christians across India attend midnight mass on Christmas
- Date: 25th December 2019
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOURIST FROM AUSTRALIA, IAN, SAYING: "We are not Catholics ourselves but we have been looking forward to seeing this service here at the Immaculate Conception Church. And because we are the followers of Jesus Christ, we also, we understood many parts of the gospel, because we heard the names, even though it was in the local Konkani language. And it was great to see how many people came here to celebrate the mass at midnight. So, I really enjoyed it, it was a great experience."
- Embargoed: 8th January 2020 06:50
- Keywords: Christmas December Delhi Goa India Mumbai holiday season midnight mass prayers
- Location: PANAJI, GOA/NEW DELHI/ CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU/ MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA
- City: PANAJI, GOA/NEW DELHI/ CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU/ MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA
- Country: India
- Topics: Religion/Belief,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA002BBH3RRJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Christian devouts across India attended midnight mass on the occasion of Christmas festival on Wednesday (December 25).
People thronged illuminated and decorated church where they prayed, listened to carols and sermons and lighted candles to mark the occasion.
India's tourist hub of Goa was seen to be the most festive as locals as well as tourists crowded ancient churches across the city and listened to the gospels in Konkani language.
Priests in Chennai also made the sermons in local Tamil language. Similar fervour was seen across the Indian cities.
Christians make up around two percent of India's 1.2 billion strong population with its largest concentration in the southern and north-eastern states. - Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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