Our Diocesan YouTube Channel, Leeds Cathedral Live, has passed the ONE MILLION views mark!
Originally begun in March 2020 as our immediate response to the first ‘Covid lockdown’, the channel broadcast daily and Sunday Mass and other devotions from the Cathedral throughout the pandemic and was visited by a ‘virtual congregation’ of tens of thousands from across the world.
As the likelihood of lockdown loomed, with the advice and expertise of our videographer, members of the Cathedral Music department and the Dean hastily scoured central Leeds for the most cost-effective, quality equipment, much of which is still in use to this day!
From the start, the decision was taken to show a single, static shot of the Sanctuary only. This ‘immersive’ experience was intended to imitate a congregant’s authentic point-of-view – and people have cited this as one of the principal reasons for choosing Leeds Cathedral over other livestreams, some of which attempted to mimic a TV programme by zooming into close up shots of the celebrant or reader.
Another difference from some church livestreams was that anyone participating in the Mass could take part in what YouTube call ‘chat’, but which in our case was an opportunity for people to make a Spiritual Communion and say responses, give the sign of peace, and ask for and offer prayers for themselves and loved ones. At a time when many were experiencing loneliness and isolation, this safe form of communication created a sense of community: people were not just ‘watching’, they told us they felt to be actually ‘participating’.
Naturally, this meant that the livestreaming engineer and the Director of Communications had to be online to answer questions briefly, signpost to more in-depth information, and, inevitably, to moderate the occasional untoward comment (although only a tiny minority of ‘trolls’ breached the trust being placed in the online community to act with respect and decorum).
Several people used the moderated ‘live chat’ to enquire about how to begin their journey towards becoming a Catholic, and others felt free to ask pertinent questions about everything from liturgical colours to deeper theological matters. Crucially, it was clear that our congregation understood that this was a spiritual participation and would never be a substitute for actual, physical, in-person participation in the Holy Eucharist.
When the pandemic was over, our trust was not misplaced that most people would return to Mass in person and we were heartened to see numbers for each livestream (now Sundays only) fall from thousands to hundreds: usually around 450, which doubles the size of the Cathedral’s capacity congregation attending in person. (As past livestreams are ‘archived’, the total number of views visible also appears to fall, but the ‘back-end’ statistics show the true total over the lifetime of the channel currently standing at 1,007,752.) For some time, participants reported that after fulfilling their Sunday Obligation, they would often come home and watch the Leeds Cathedral livestream as well!
The Bishop and the Cathedral clergy have continued to livestream Sunday Mass, primarily for people who, through age or sickness, are unable to attend communal worship. The overwhelming feedback from the thousands of online visitors to Leeds Cathedral has been consistently positive throughout the channel’s five year existence. Most appreciated is the beauty and dignity of the Cathedral’s liturgies, the superb choir and repertoire of sacred music, the quality of preaching and Mass in Latin on the first Sunday of each month.
Thanks to our videographer, who also provides technical livestreaming advice to any parish wishing to start or maintain a professional-looking broadcast of Mass, Leeds Cathedral’s YouTube channel continues to allow people from the Diocese, the country and the world to participate virtually in the Cathedral’s 11am Sunday Mass. In addition to livestreamed Mass, our channel is used for a variety of other videos: from a simple montage for Remembrance Sunday Commemorating those from our Diocesan Family lost in the two World Wars to our recent series of three Reader Training videos and a call for Foundation Governors.
The 11am Sunday Mass – and some other Masses and events at Leeds Cathedral – may be found by clicking on the Livestreaming ’tile’ on the front page of our website. This takes you to where you can either click straight through to the YouTube Channel, or first view/print off the Prayer to make a Spiritual Communion, and Order of Mass in English and Latin used by the Cathedral.
Leeds Cathedral’s celebration of Midnight Mass is being broadcast on BBC Radio 4 again this year, so why not tune in to the BBC for the audio, whilst watching the pictures from our livestream?
We wish all members of our regular ‘virtual congregation’; all 1,007,752 people who have viewed the channel to date; and all our 7,076 subscribers a very blessed Advent and Happy Christmas when it comes!
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