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Coronavirus Update New York City: Archdiocese of NY ring church bells to honor US COVID deaths

Coronavirus update for NYC

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Archdiocese of NY ring church bells to honor US COVID deaths

All churches throughout the Archdiocese of New York rang their bells Wednesday at noon to honor the 322,000 people who have died from coronavirus in the U.S.

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Church bells tolled for the hundreds of thousands of lives lost in the coronavirus pandemic.

All churches throughout the Archdiocese of New York, including St. Patrick's Cathedral, rung their bells Wednesday at noon to honor the 322,000 people who have died from coronavirus in the U.S.

The Archdiocese of Boston and Diocese of Brooklyn joined the Archdiocese of New York in ringing their church bells to honor the dearly departed, as well as in Staten Island to Ulster County.

Derick Waller reports on how New York state is preparing.

The archdiocese says the ringing of the bells is meant to comfort grieving families and friends and help everyone move forward together into 2021.

"The ringing of the bells is as much a statement of faith as it is a show of solidarity with our neighbors and fellow Americans who have faced unimaginable losses as a result of the pandemic," the archdiocese said in a release. "Traditionally, the ringing of church bells has been a call to prayer or a signal to the community that a moment of solemnity and significance is taking place. Most often these are occasions of prayer, funerals, or weddings. Historically, the bells have also marked moments of both loss and triumph in the wider culture."

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