As of May 4, small funerals will be allowed, individuals will be permitted to visit family members, most factories will reopen and people will be able to go to a restaurant to order food to take away.
Europe
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Coronavirus outbreak discovered at Rome pontifical university
Pontifical Salesian University, which has been conducting classes online since March 5, houses some 280 members of six religious orders.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Subway mysticism: How Madeleine Delbrêl transformed my commute
The church needs Madeleine Delbrêl’s words and example to transform our vision of one another, whether across ecclesial lines or simply across the subway aisle.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
The surprisingly Catholic roots of the European Union
The far right denounces the European Union as anti-Christian totalitarianism, but Michael Daniel Driessen writes that the E.U. has its roots in Catholic universalism and a suspicion of the nation-state.
Posted inFaith, News
German Catholic Church expects to reopen public services in May
The government of the federal state of Berlin has permitted church services with up to 50 participants from May 4 provided that hygiene and social distancing requirements are observed.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis speaks with French President Macron about coronavirus, international debt relief
Pope Francis expressed his closeness and support to France, where Covid-19 has claimed more than 20,000 lives.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
As coronavirus pandemic develops, tensions rise and conditions worsen for migrants in Europe
Around Europe, asylum seekers typically live in crowded shelters or detention centers, makeshift refugee camps or on the streets.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Italian bishops in talks with government on post-lockdown liturgies
The church and government in Italy are making plans which would allow for the gradual–though limited–resumption of public Masses and funerals.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: How the Weimar Republic paved the way to its own ruin
Benjamin Carter Hett’s ‘The Death of Democracy: Hitler’s Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic’ shows how a flawed but genuine democracy could give way to the vilest regime imaginable.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Religious leaders in Germany criticize decision to keep churches and mosques shut
Ahead of a meeting on April 17 between religious leaders and the federal government, there are growing calls to allow the German faithful to worship together as soon as possible.