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Mainz (dpa / lrs) - At Christmas the pews are usually full - but this year everything is different.
The churches in Rhineland-Palatinate are preparing for a Christmas party under corona restrictions.
For visitors this means: keep your distance, wear a mask and usually register beforehand.
Some churches are relocating their services in the open air or broadcast the masses live on the Internet.
The two main services on Christmas Day and Day will be broadcast live from the Speyer Cathedral at home.
As Domdekan and Domkustos Christoph Maria Kohl announced, there will also be two day nursery celebrations and three Christmas masses instead of one each as in the previous year.
In addition, the times of the individual services will be shortened.
In this way, "as many people as possible should be able to come to the cathedral in person on Christmas Eve," said Kohl.
According to the dean of the cathedral, the crib will not be visible.
"We struggled for a long time as to how we could deal with the subject of the" crib in the cathedral "," said Kohl.
Instead of a nativity scene in the church, the nativity scene will now be distributed across several shop windows in downtown Speyer.
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The Christmas mass in the Mainz Cathedral is celebrated twice on Christmas Eve due to the limited space in the Corona crisis.
According to the diocese, Auxiliary Bishop Udo Markus Bentz will celebrate a Christmas mass on December 24th at 5.30 p.m. and one at 11 p.m.
Bishop Peter Kohlgraf traditionally celebrates the festive service on Christmas Day at 10 a.m. in the cathedral.
In addition, according to the information, there will also be further Christmas masses in the churches near the cathedral: Bishop Kohlgraf celebrates mass in the seminary church at 5.30 p.m. and cathedral chapter Hans-Jürgen Eberhardt also celebrates mass at 5.30 p.m. in St. Quintin.
Another mass is planned for 9.30 p.m. also in St. Quintin with cathedral chapter Franz-Rudolf Weinert.
The Christmas masses and festive services on Christmas Day are traditionally among the most popular masses of the year.
According to the information, there are also considerations in the individual parishes of the diocese to offer several Christmas masses on around December 24th.
In Trier there will also be more trade fairs than usual this year.
As spokeswoman Judith Rupp said, according to the current status, 100 places in the cathedral could probably be filled.
On December 24th, two Christmas masses will be celebrated at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., but both are already fully booked.
On Christmas Day two doors of the cathedral are open for church services, and on the second day of public holidays.
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In Limburg, too, worshipers have to register for the cathedral.
"Christmas is taking place, it is not canceled," quoted the diocese in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, bishop Georg Bätzing.
"But we all suspect and will see that Christmas this year will be very different from what we know."
The bishop himself celebrates a Christmas mass on Christmas Eve, which is broadcast via the diocese channels on Youtube and Facebook.
Otherwise, another Christmas mass is planned for Christmas Eve at 10 p.m., which will also be broadcast on the Internet.
According to a spokesman, the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate is also planning to offer more services than usual, which are shorter in order to ensure ventilation.
In addition, many Christmas services take place in the open air.
For example, a forest Christmas will take place in a district of the community of Bruchmühlbach-Miesau - with a mask requirement, but "without the problem of ventilation".
In Speyer, only ten percent of the 1,000 places in the Memorial Church will be occupied.
According to the spokesman, there will be six short services, and there will be repeated ventilation in between.
Registration is mandatory for all church services.
At the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau (EKHN), whose area extends to parts of Rhineland-Palatinate, a large part of the services was canceled, according to Juliane Diel from the dean's office in Mainz.
However, some churches are open to prayer, and many rely on online offers.
In Mainz-Laubenheim, the Protestant parish offers ecumenical Christmas walks through the town.
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Church services and gatherings of religious or religious communities are also permitted under the stricter Corona rules, taking into account the distance and mask requirements as well as the rules for contact tracking.
Clergymen, among others, are exempt from the mask requirement.
Diocese of Trier at Christmas services
EKHN for Christmas
Evangelical Church of the Palatinate at Christmas
Diocese of Mainz at Christmas
Speyer Cathedral at church services