On Easter Sunday, churches at parishes across the Archdiocese of Boston will join in unison with ringing of the bells at noon. The gesture of solidarity and celebration was proposed by several parishioners from different regions of the archdiocese and received by Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley as an encouraging expression of hope during these challenging times.

One parishioner cited a sense of calm and assurance at hearing the church bells, another cited the importance of proclaiming our faith as a sign of our care and concern for the community. The Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, the Mother Church of the archdiocese, will be ringing its own historic bells at the noon hour in solidarity with the faithful throughout the region.

The archdiocese is asking parishes to live-stream the ringing of the bells on their social media and digital platforms with the hashtag #AnEasterPeople if they are able.

"Christians are experiencing this Holy Week of worship as never before -- in the solitude of our homes and for first responders, in their places of work," Cardinal O'Malley said. "In ordinary times, church bells are a call for people to gather in prayer. This year, in the midst of the pandemic, the bells remind us that we are a community of people who need to take care of each other in the power and strength of spiritual connection and the love of the Resurrected Christ."

The cardinal said he is pleased to know other denominations are also planning to ring the bells of their churches as a sign of hope and solidarity.

The archdiocese said that, in addition to being a sign of unity, the ringing of bells on Easter is also an opportunity to recognize and pray for those on the front lines of this crisis, including, among others, nurses, doctors, EMT's, police, fire, other medical professionals and other essential workers.