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Berlin (dpa / bb) - In the corona pandemic, the Christian churches celebrated an ecumenical online Christmas service with intercessions in the Berlin Memorial Church.
Wishes for sufficient strength for doctors and nurses and support for the sick and mourning were read out.
People also wanted peace for the war zones and an end to the "quiet time".
Protestant Bishop Christian Stäblein and Berlin's Archbishop Heiner Koch held the divine service via livestream under the motto “Because we need hope”.
A small choir and musicians could also be seen - all of them at a large distance from one another.
All churches could only celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with great restrictions. Church service visitors had to register in advance. Contact limits and distance rules also applied to the churches. Singing was limited. According to the latest figures, 1,105 people died in connection with a corona infection in Berlin, around half of them lived in old people's and nursing homes. More than 350 people were in intensive care with Covid-19 in the capital at Christmas. The first vaccinations against the new corona virus are to begin in Berlin's nursing homes on Sunday.