Watch a funeral in Poland live from abroad

How do you watch a funeral in Poland from abroad?

An example. Mum's funeral is on Friday at 11:00 in a parish near Kielce. Her son lives in Birmingham, her daughter in Bergen, her grandson in Toronto. One of them writes to us on Tuesday evening: the town, the date, the times of the Mass and of the burial. They get the key and pass it to the others on WhatsApp. On Friday each of them opens pogrzebyonline.pl at their own time - the son at 10:00, the daughter at 11:00, the grandson at 5:00 in the morning - and they see what the family in the church sees.

The details - what you see, how to order, what to do about the time difference - are below.

What you see during a live funeral broadcast

We broadcast every stage of the funeral: the rosary, the Holy Mass and the burial at the cemetery. Viewers do not get a single distant shot of the altar. They follow the whole farewell, from the start of the Mass to the moment at the grave.

• The Holy Mass from two cameras. One is a wide camera showing the whole church, the other is for details - the altar, the coffin, the readings.
• The procession. Our camera operator walks in the funeral procession with the other mourners, so the broadcast continues on the way to the cemetery.
• The cemetery. The final farewell at the grave is part of the broadcast.
• A tribute slideshow. The broadcast can include a slideshow of photos, videos and quotes in memory of the deceased. We prepare it free of charge.

Everything is done so as not to distract those present. The equipment is handled by one person. Unless the family decides otherwise, we do not film faces. You can tell us beforehand what you would like shown and what not. During the broadcast the camera operator can respond to viewers' requests - for example show up close the wreath sent by the family abroad.

Funeral Mass live - broadcasting from the church

The most common worry: will the priest allow a camera in the church? We hold the diocesan permission to film in sacred spaces, and we make the arrangements with the parish and the funeral home ourselves. The family does not have to sort anything out with the parish priest.

The Mass is shown from two cameras: a wide shot and a close-up. Everything is done so as not to distract those present.

A parish webcam or a funeral broadcast - the difference

Some parishes stream their Masses online, usually from one camera fixed in the church. When a family abroad asks whether "watching on the parish website" would be enough, we answer with a comparison:

If the parish streams its Masses, the family is welcome to watch there. A funeral broadcast is for those who want to see the whole farewell, not just the Mass, and want to keep a recording of it.

A broadcast key instead of a link - who can watch

Many companies send the family a long link. We send a broadcast key: a simple password. It is easier to ask an aunt in Canada to type a word than to copy an address forty characters long.

• The key can be sent in a message, read out over the phone or put in the obituary.
• Anyone with the key can watch, on as many devices as needed at the same time - in Poland and abroad.
• Without the key the broadcast cannot be seen. The funeral does not go out on a public channel.
• If the ceremony has several parts in different places, all of them are under the same key.
• The website and the player are available in English - for relatives who do not speak Polish.

A funeral in another time zone - when to watch?

Poland is on Central European Time. The UK and Ireland are one hour behind all year round; Norway and Germany are on the same time. In North America the difference changes for a few weeks a year, because summer time starts and ends there on different days than in Europe.

If the time falls at night or during work, there is the recording - we send it after the ceremony.

How to order a funeral broadcast from abroad

1. Tell us where and when the funeral is.In the form on this page, on WhatsApp, by phone (+48 504 587 787, day and night) or by email. Useful: the town, the date, the times and places of each stage - the church and the cemetery. If the date is not known yet, write to us anyway.
2. We confirm the broadcast and send the key.Together with the key you receive the details for the deposit. You can pass the key to the family straight away.
3. We handle the arrangements on site.Travel and the arrangements with the parish and the funeral home are on us.
4. On the day you type the key on pogrzebyonline.pl.The broadcast starts a few minutes before the ceremony.

When ordering, you confirm that you are a member of the family of the deceased or act on its behalf, and that the relatives present at the ceremony know about the broadcast. For the family on site the camera must not be a surprise.

How much does a funeral broadcast cost?

We send a quote once we know the town and the date of the ceremony. The price covers travel, the arrangements with the parish and the funeral home and the whole broadcast, together with the recording and the tribute slideshow. Payment is split into a deposit before the ceremony and the rest after it - the payment details come with the key, so you can pay by bank transfer from abroad.

The funeral recording - how to keep it

After the funeral we send a link to download the recording of the whole ceremony. The link is valid for a month. It is best to download the recording straight away and save it on a computer or a drive, so that it stays in the family.

How to get ready to watch the broadcast

• Check in the calculator above what time the ceremony starts in your country.
• Pass the key to other relatives a day before, not at the last minute.
• Go to pogrzebyonline.pl a few minutes before the start and type the key.
• Watch over Wi-Fi or a fixed-line connection if you can.
• If the picture stops, there is a button under the player to refresh the broadcast.

You will find more about how the broadcast works in Funeral live streaming step by step, and the cities with their own pages in live funeral streaming in Poland. We broadcast across the whole country, including small towns.