It is the oldest program in France which, for the first time, is settling in Etretat. For the Assumption, the masses for this Sunday and Monday are broadcast live on France 2 from the forecourt of the Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption church.
For the first, this Sunday morning, the parishioners and the teams of the show rehearsed for several hours. A total of 6 cameras and a mechanical arm were installed. In front of the church, it almost feels like a movie set. “It’s a rather special mass, notes Bruno, a regular at the office in Etretat. There are cameras everywhere, you have to come a little early for the rehearsal. There is a whole organization.“
– Manon Lombart-Brunel
“A great service rendered”
The one who orchestrates this live broadcast is Philippe Vayrac. He is what is called a televised liturgical officer. It is he who gives directions to the parishioners.
“We are changing their habits a bit. They adapt to us insofar as there are rehearsal times, where we set up because we have a little material to make it pretty. And at the same time, it’s a great opportunity to tell ourselves we’re going to mark the occasion and we’re going to give ourselves the means to think about how we celebrate.”
– Manon Lombart-Brunel
With one objective: to make mass as accessible as possible for the faithful sitting on their sofa. It is Father Didier Roquigny who presides over the service in front of an audience necessarily larger than usual: “cThis assembly extends beyond the people present and reaches the hundreds of thousands of viewers. It is a very good service rendered to those who wish to join in it.“
A way also to attract the attention and the donations of the televiewers because the church must be the object of work and the funds are obviously welcome.