Pope Francis will lead the traditional Holy Week ceremonies from the Vatican without the presence of the faithful due to the measures for the containment of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The pontiff will celebrate the rites at the altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica starting with Palm Sunday Mass on April 5 and continue the Holy Week celebrations with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on April 9, the celebration of the Passion of the Lord and the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross), which this year will be done in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, on Good Friday, April 10. On Saturday, April 11, Pope Francis will celebrate the Easter Vigil Mass and on Easter Sunday he will celebrate Mass, followed by the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing, “to the city and to the world”.

Given the unprecedented global situation, Vatican Media has decided to offer live transmissions of all Holy Week celebrations via the Eurovision Services WorldFeed platform, making them available rights-free and free of charge to broadcasters worldwide. The transmissions will also be made available for download in broadcast quality after the events on the Eurovision Services WorldLink VOD platform.

"As a long-term partner of Vatican Media, and having covered Easter celebrations on behalf of the Holy See for decades, Eurovision Services is honoured to be distributing all of the Holy Week celebrations at a time when most of the faithful around the world are confined to their homes," said Marco Tinnirello, CEO of Eurovision Services.

The following transmissions will be available on the Eurovision WorldFeed service:

Thursday 9 April 2020 15:45-17:00 GMT: Mass of the Lord's Supper
Friday 10 April 2020 15:45-17:15 GMT: Celebration of the Passion of the Lord
Friday 10 April 2020 18:45-20:15 GMT: Way of the Cross
Saturday 11 April 2020 18:45-20:30 GMT: Easter Vigil
Sunday 12 April 2020: 08:45-10:15 GMT: Easter Sunday Mass and Urbi et Orbi Message

View our event page for full transmission details, synopses and reference documents.