'Visita Iglesia' website tops 40k visitors ahead of Holy Week

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP's) online "Visita Iglesia" breached the 40,000-visitor mark early Wednesday, promising to be an even bigger hit than it was last year. As of noon of April 20, the counter on the site (www.visitaiglesia.net) had already registered over 46,000 visitors. The figure represents a 20,000-visitor increase in two days, as the site had logged just over 21,000 visitors on Monday morning. Last year's "Visita Iglesia" site (www.cbcponline.net/visitaiglesia) had attracted just 47,473 visitors over the Holy Week. While the old CBCP address is still active, it has been set to redirect visitors to the new site. During last year's Holy Week, online visits peaked on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Black Saturday, causing the site to occasionally slow to a crawl, or be downed by "technical difficulties." The CBCP launched this year's "Visita Iglesia" site last April 1, for overseas Filipino workers who could not make it home and Catholics who cannot physically make the traditional church visit. This year's site features many improvements on the old site, including a YouTube introduction, and catecheses on Lent, the Holy Week, and Easter. It also has added features like the Pasyon, Seven Last Words, and homilies —but also links to its commercial sponsors. — TJD, GMA News