A church in northern Portugal is to broadcast services live on the internet, using recently installed video-surveillance cameras, its priest said on Monday.

"The idea came when I was thinking about expatriates and older residents who cannot travel to the church," Father Abel Faria, Roman Catholic priest at Sao Martinho de Sande in Guimaraes, told AFP.

The decision to broadcast mass on the internet came after six surveillance cameras were installed in the church to boost security following two years of renovation work.

"If we have all these cameras, why not use them?" added Father Faria (33), who will deliver his first online mass on Sunday.

"As far as I know we are the first to do this kind of regular broadcasting, each Sunday at 11am," he said.

"Everything is ready on our side, now our service provider must make sure the connection works."

A seventh camera, capable of filming the church from a full 360 degrees, has been added.

AFP