A special community service in reflection of the Covid-19 pandemic will be held at The Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity this morning.

The public is welcome to attend the 11am interdenominational service hosted by the Right Reverend Nicholas Dill, Anglican Bishop of Bermuda, and the Right Reverend Wesley Spiewak, Catholic Bishop of the Hamilton Diocese under the patronage of Rena Lalgie, the Governor, and Kim Wilson, the Minister of Health.

“After this very difficult time in world history and in our island home this service has been put together alongside others on an ecumenical basis to which the whole community is invited,” Bishop Dill said.

“The service presents a time to pause and gather together for three reasons. The first is to acknowledge the lives of those who have been struck by the Covid-19 virus – those who died, those who continue to struggle – and to stand alongside their families and loved ones in remembrance, support and prayer.

“Many were not able to gather at the time of the funeral, many were not able even to say how their loved ones died. In the service there will be a time to lament, to light a candle of hope for them.”

The service is also a chance to show gratitude to people who worked on the front lines throughout the pandemic, he added.

“It is an opportunity to publicly thank and pray for those who tirelessly, and at great risk and cost, served others in the community during these last few years.

“Those in the medical field, in Government, first responders, but equally those who gave of themselves financially to provide the equipment, vaccines and resources to keep us safe, to enable kids to go to school; the food and shelter for those who lost their jobs or found and continue to find themselves stretched, for those who visited or found ways to support the lonely and vulnerable.”

The faith community came together in tremendous ways to support the country as it navigated the collective loss of the pandemic, Bishop Dill said. Now that all Covid-related restrictions have officially ended, this is an opportunity to the faith community to come together again in thanksgiving.

“Whilst we know Covid hasn’t completely gone and we need to maintain our care and vigilance, it is right that as things open up once more and official restrictions have ended, we come together.

“It is a time to learn together and look to the future with hope and to pledge ourselves as a community to look out for one another in a spirit of unity and communality.”