In a sign of how much the pandemic has grown, China now accounts for less than half of the world’s 168,000 cases, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Coronavirus
Posted inFaith, News
It’s quiet time for New Rochelle, N.Y.—and a community parish
New Rochelle has the highest concentration of COVID-19 cases in the country. Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed schools in the zone to close and forbade large gatherings of people.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis prays in Rome churches asking God to rid the world of the coronavirus
Pope Francis traveled the nearly deserted streets of Rome this afternoon to pray at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major and the church of St. Marcello, home to a venerated crucifix from the 16th-century plague.
Posted inFaith, Last Take
On watching a Mass on YouTube at which I was scheduled to preside
The Mass has power whether we are able to be there in person or not, writes Sam Sawyer, S.J., reflecting on a Sunday when circumstances mean that many are participating in liturgy via modern technology.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis to those isolated because of the coronavirus: ‘United to Christ, we are never alone’
In a video address, Pope Francis thanked caregivers and assured his audience that ‘spiritual communion‘ remains strong even during the isolation of the coronavirus epidemic. Gerard O’Connell reports from the Vatican.
Posted inFaith, News
Vatican says public will not be admitted to papal Holy Week liturgies
While public gatherings, including Masses, have been banned in Italy through April 3, Holy Week begins with the Palm Sunday liturgy April 5, so the notification from the Prefecture of the Papal Household was read as a sign that the ban would be extended, at least at the Vatican.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
What lies ahead for Pope Francis as he enters the eighth year of his pontificate?
Pope Francis will continue his all-out efforts to eliminate the triple form of abuse by clergy in the church—the abuse of conscience, of power, of sex—and to ensure that a safe environment is established in all church institutions worldwide for children and young people.
Posted inFaith, News
U.S. dioceses suspend Masses and close churches as coronavirus pandemic escalates
The Archdiocese of Seattle has been joined by numerous other dioceses, including those of Little Rock, Salt Lake City, and Santa Fe, in canceling public Masses. Major archdioceses, such as in Chicago and Newark, have undertaken similar precautious.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Churches, chaplains, nuns have unexpected role in COVID-19 crisis
The Church of All Saints in Bergamo — located in a cemetery in Italy’s hardest-hit Lombardy region — has had to open its doors to dozens of coffins containing the remains of people who died of COVID-19.