To avoid any distraction during the livestreaming of Masses, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) recommended that emoji reactions be disabled.
"Christ's faithful are to hold the blessed Eucharist in the highest honor," the CBCP said in their recommended guidelines for livestreaming the liturgy.
"To this end, we are to avoid any possible distractions. Chat rooms and running commentaries (prayer intentions and the like), as well as emoji reactions should be disabled while Mass is going on," it further read.
In the guidelines, the CBCP said, all online Masses should be registered with the Diocese where it could monitor the online Masses.
"This way, the Diocesan Bishop can either encourage more online Masses, or limit them if they are already too many, or if they are not in keeping with the liturgical standards," it said.
The Mass, the CBCP said, should be celebrated in a sacred place adding that any other place is to be regarded as exceptional.
The bishops' conference said any semblance of trafficking or trading is to be entirely excluded from Mass offerings.
It added that in dioceses where Mass Media Ministries are already in place, it is encouraged that Masses be centralized through their Mass Media Ministry.
"As much as possible, only live-streamed Masses and not pre-recorded Masses should be transmitted and participated by those who wish to join it in prayer and in spiritual communion," the CBCP said.
These are just some of the recommendations of the CBCP in the guidelines dated Jan. 25.
Churches still continue with their online Masses for those who cannot physically go to church especially in view of the coronavirus disease pandemic.