Catholics mark virus safe Good Friday in Ivory Coast

Christians in Ivory Coast were asked to observe the Holy Week with tight restrictions on gatherings to avoid the spread of the virus.

In the country where the vaccination campaign began last month, authorities maintained the call for people to wear masks, wash their hands and keep social distancing.

Viviane Agnissan lit a candle and prayed to the Virgin Mary on Good Friday, before leaving her house to celebrate Easter at the church in Grand Bassam, a town located east of Abidjan.

A devout Christian, 49-year-old Agnissan misses the annual pilgrimages to visit the Stations of the Cross, that were organized every year in the coastal town for Easter, but they were cancelled due to the pandemic.

She said what makes this Easter "exceptional" is that "the families have to really learn what comes from the heart and to hope for the total cure of this world that is contaminated".

Agnissan, a member of an NGO that help teenage single mothers, is part of about 40% of the population following Christianity in the West African country.

She says this Good Friday she has prayed - and hopes - in the coming years families can again celebrate Mass together in church.

In the parish of Grand Bassam, Mass was celebrated in the exterior part of the building, with people separated from each other and wearing masks.

"This year, with the world situation, this pandemic, the coronavirus, there have been special arrangements" said priest Martial Kouame Yves.

Religious sites around the world were open to limited numbers of faithful and worshippers in many countries where the virus is still raging had to follow restrictive measures and avoid crowds.

Ivory Coast registered 44,445 confirmed cases and 250 deaths according to Johns Hopkins University.