FIRST OFF . . .

Not many churches would allow their choirs to be absent on Easter, but Msgr. I. Brent Eagen of Mission San Diego de Alcala has made an exception. Sixty members of the mission’s choir will sing, by papal invitation, on Easter Sunday in Vatican City. The San Diego group, led by Gene Regard, will join the Sistine Chapel choir at the Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II. In the evening, it will be the principal choir at the Easter High Mass at St. Peter’s. Eagen said the choir’s 10-day trip, which will include performances in Rome, Florence and Assisi, has been planned for several years. And what will the San Diego Mission do for its services while its choir is singing for the Pope? “About 15 members who did not go on the trip will sing for Holy Week and Easter,” Eagen said. “While most of the choir is away, we hope to encourage more congregational singing.”