With 22 seminarians now studying at St. Paul Seminary, Pittsburgh Catholic Bishop David A. Zubik is ending daily livestreams of Mass and instead will be streaming one weekly service, on Sundays at 10 a.m.

Zubik has been livestreaming Mass daily from Boyle Hall Chapel at the seminary. With the return of the priests-to-be, the chapel is used for their prayers and devotions.

“We’re doing what we can to stay flexible during these unprecedented times. Nothing replaces experiencing the Holy Mass in person and receiving the Eucharist,” Zubik said in a statement. “I pray we will be able to worship together without any restrictions, as we used, to very soon.”

The Mass celebrated by the bishop is one of many options that Pittsburgh-area Catholics have to remain active spiritually if they have concerns about attending church in-person during the covid-19 pandemic.

Many parishes started streaming Masses in March when pandemic shutdowns began.

In-person Masses resumed in June, but church capacity is limited and some parishioners have refrained from attending because of health concerns.

Zubik’s Sunday morning Masses average of about 8,000 views, according to diocesan spokeswoman Jennifer Antkowiak. The Easter Sunday Mass had about 35,000 viewers.

The bishop’s Masses and homilies are archived on the diocesan YouTube channel.

The Rev. Nicholas Vaskov leads the Shrines of Pittsburgh grouping, which includes historic churches on Polish Hill, Troy Hill and in the Strip District. He said streaming Masses and other prayers is an important way the church can encourage people to practice their faith during the pandemic.

“It filed a void that was certainly there,” Vaskov said.

As time moves on, and some return to churches, streaming Mass remains important, Vaskov said.

“We’re not going to stop reaching out in any way,” he said. “We don’t want to miss any one. We’ve seen a great response.”

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