Coronavirus

Francis, the comic strip: What is a good way to remember, honor those who have died from COVID-19?

Since the coronavirus pandemic has reached the nation's local jails and state prisons, with inmates testing positive in the thousands, Catholic prison ministers are arguing for early release for non-violent and vulnerable offenders.

With issues of access and technical ability among some congregants, and a pandemic that has closed their church doors and scattered congregations, African Americans have been scrambling to sustain crucial connections to their houses of worship.

Commentary: Detention centers are "known to be places where infections spread at lightning speed once they enter," explains Maryknoll lay missioner Heidi Cerneka, who works as an immigration attorney in El Paso.

Distinctly Catholic: We Catholics admit there is a hierarchy of values and the protection of human life is at the top of that hierarchy, especially when the arguments opposite are principally about economics.

For the Catholic Worker's meal center in LA, known as the Hippie Kitchen, meeting the increased need while preventing the spread of coronavirus has meant improvising — both in how it provides its services and how it prevents the spread of the virus.

Four U.S. Catholic bishops called on government officials to consider the role and plight of U.S. migrant farmworkers during the coronavirus pandemic and made recommendations that include free testing and care should the workers test positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

New Mexico's largest Catholic diocese has filed a complaint against the U.S. Small Business Administration over its inability to apply for federal aid meant to help businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

At least 39 people at a Rome pontifical university tested positive for the coronavirus, the rector said.

Francis, the comic strip: Gabby and Leo discuss uses for disinfectants and soap.

Soul Seeing: So many saints and spiritual mentors elected solitude, or had it imposed by circumstances. What kind of wisdom, I wondered, might they impart to "ordinary" people entering into this unfamiliar world?

As many countries in Latin America enforce social distancing measures in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus, people are deprived of basic subsistence. Catholic institutions are working to support the most disadvantaged social segments during the pandemic.

Mexico's bishops have called for the federal government to reconsider its COVID-19 response, urging the president to set aside a suite of mega-projects and instead put the funds toward families facing pandemic hardships.

Fearful that the coronavirus pandemic has spread more widely than official numbers suggest, the Haitian government and numerous nongovernmental organizations are bolstering COVID-19 public awareness and hygiene programs.

Pope Francis has expressed his hope that the post-pandemic world would be marked by more solidarity, concern for others, care for the environment, an appreciation of the church as a community and a sharpening of people's listening skills. Most people mirror the pope's hopes for a post-pandemic resolution. 

This is how new Catholics are being welcomed into the church, when COVID-19 precautions mean baptisms can't be crowded events.

Pope Francis prayed for teachers and students who are trying to adapt and to do their work online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The federal small-business loan program created in response to the coronavirus pandemic has allowed the Diocese of Nashville, Tennessee, to keep all of its part-time employees on board.

In NCR interviews, Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy and Cheyenne Bishop Steven Biegler urged laity to develop their prayer lives and reach out to those in need in this unprecedented time.

Priestly Diary: Like the Black Plague, COVID-19 will probably have some long-term impact on the Catholic Church. I suspect that it will accelerate two seemingly contradictory trends.

Commentary from the Guardian: The COVID-19 epidemic is ravaging our tattered healthcare system and shredding our economy. It seems counterintuitive, but the timing for a Green Stimulus is perfect.

As the COVID-19 pandemic increasingly exposes fault lines between the rich and poor, the eight bishops of Peru's Amazonian region have urged the government to pay particular attention to the needs of indigenous people.

Unemployment in the U.S. has swelled to levels last seen during the Great Depression of the 1930s, with 1 in 6 American workers thrown out of a job by the coronavirus.

To mark his name day, the feast of St. George, Pope Francis gave the gift of medical supplies to several countries reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.

Pope Francis prayed for families struggling economically during the COVID-19 pandemic and for the conversion of loan sharks who prey on them.

The U.S. Department of Education said federal financial relief for coronavirus for higher education is meant for U.S. citizens, prompting protests from students enrolled in colleges and universities under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.

Roundtable: As the pandemic passes, the surge of goodwill for a better world may slow to a halt. But if enough of us submit to a greater, spiritual calling, a thorough transformation could be at hand.

While celebrities and billionaires have announced huge gifts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, many charities and nonprofits are still struggling. Donations to some churches have plummeted, and many charities have had to cancel crucial fundraising events such as galas, bike races and walkathons.

When you think about the mechanics of Sunday Eucharist, it's difficult to imagine a system better designed to spread contagion.

Maybe our questions out of quarantine — a pope and people in place, captive to the unseen and unheard — are too small, too much about mechanics and organizational strategies.

Just Catholic: As the human race joins the rest of the planet in a struggle for survival, the church is also trying to find its footing. Why? Clericalism.

Only the humble submission of each individual to the Holy Spirit can bring harmony to communities suffering from division, Pope Francis said.

As Ramadan begins with the new moon later this week, Muslims around the world are trying to maintain the cherished rituals of Islam's holiest month without further spreading the outbreak.

The Mexican bishops' conference has issued ethical guidelines as the COVID-19 crisis worsens in Mexico and medical staff are potentially forced to make life-and-death decisions on which patients receive treatment, and which ones are denied access to equipment like ventilators.

Democratic lawmakers want police departments to be vigilant about any racially biased policing during the coronavirus pandemic, as people in communities of color express fears of being profiled while wearing masks or other face coverings in public.

A federal judge signaled that he believes there's a good chance that Kansas is violating religious freedom and free speech rights with a coronavirus-inspired 10-person limit on in-person attendance at religious services or activities and he blocked its enforcement against two churches that sued over it.

The global health crisis is taking a nasty political turn with tensions worsening between governments locked down to keep the coronavirus at bay and people yearning to restart stalled economies and forestall fears of a depression.

As the world slowly recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a risk it will be struck by an even worse virus — that of selfish indifference, Pope Francis said.

Commentary: How can we go on being a eucharistic people, indeed an Easter people, without the Lord's Supper? Let's take our grief and search for the grace that resides within it.

For Orthodox Christians, this is normally a time of reflection and mourning followed by joyful release, of centuries-old ceremonies steeped in symbolism and tradition. But this year, Easter — by far the most significant religious holiday for the world's roughly 300 million Orthodox — has essentially been canceled.

Across the country, black clergy say the coronavirus is touching — and sometimes taking — the faithful who until a month ago were accustomed to meeting weekly in their pews. Some are mourning losses in the highest echelons of their denomination. Others are counting the dead, sick and unemployed.

Pope Francis said he was praying for expectant mothers who may be anxious or worried about giving birth during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social distancing measures during the coronavirus pandemic have largely put a stop to the Catholic practice of confession. This has revived conversation around a basic question: Why can't we do this by phone?

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread in Congo, the country's Catholic bishops are insisting on measures to also fight Ebola, the deadly epidemic that has made a surprise return.

As the coronavirus has spread in the United States, Surgeon General Jerome Adams has publicly and repeatedly stated his belief in a divine plan. Experts say that's problematic.

Simply Spirit: We remembered Jesus as we broke bread and raised our cups of wine in front of our webcams. No one could accuse us of attempting to say Mass. But there were many priests around our virtual table.

While most leaders of major religions have supported governments' efforts to fight the pandemic by limiting gatherings, a minority of the faithful — in both religious and secular institutions — have not.

Pope Francis created a new commission that will confront the challenges the world is facing in battling the coronavirus pandemic and what it will inevitably face in its aftermath, the Vatican announced.

Looking for a way to provide both spiritual and physical care on Easter, a group of Italian doctors received their bishop's permission to distribute Communion to those infected by the coronavirus.

As the coronavirus pandemic has swept across the country, churches have been forced to follow states' stay-in-place guidelines, which some see as an infringement of their religious freedom.

Parishes and Catholic organizations have been among the hundreds of thousands of small businesses and nonprofits that have rushed to the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program.

Faith Seeking Understanding: I have often found myself struggling these last few weeks to do something that I am expected to do almost naturally by virtue of my life and profession: that is, pray.

Local journalism outlets, including diocesan newspapers, are being touted as vital information sources during the COVID-19 pandemic worthy of being included in a new round of federal emergency aid.

Although Catholics in most East European countries have backed measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic, for some it has also revived painful memories of communist rule.

The wages of all essential workers should be immediately raised to at least $15 an hour, with government subsidies to businesses that need them.

Storms that killed more than 30 people in the Southeast, piling fresh misery atop a pandemic, spread across the eastern United States on April 13, leaving more than 1 million homes and businesses without power amid floods and mudslides.

Soul Seeing: "Open the windows of your soul/And though you may not be able/to touch across the empty square,/Sing," writes Br. Richard Hendrick in a poem about the coronavirus pandemic.

Christian and Muslim communities in Nigeria are collaborating to respond to and combat the growing coronavirus pandemic in the country in what has been described as a show of love and unity.

Catholic migrant ministries of Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras have called for an end to deportations during the COVID-19 crisis, saying the practice exposes an already vulnerable group to health and security risks — especially those sent summarily to countries of which they are not citizens.

Writing to social movements, including organized groups of casual laborers, Pope Francis said the COVID-19 pandemic should give rise to consideration of "a universal basic wage" to guarantee people have the minimum they need to live and support their families.

Christians are commemorating Jesus' crucifixion without the solemn church services or emotional processions of past years, marking Good Friday in a world locked down by the coronavirus pandemic.

In the midst of a global pandemic, the presumption that clerics will somehow figure a way to safely conduct public services and distribute the Eucharist is delusional.

Commentary: It has taken a global pandemic to signal that the Roman Catholic Church hasn't a prayer of returning to many of its outmoded practices.

The virus outbreak has put much of American life on hold, but the nation's culture wars seem immune from the pandemic.

Two leading proponents of debt relief for developing countries urged the White House to lead the call for a moratorium on debt payments for poor nations so they can devote funds to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gov. Laura Kelly's executive order restricting the size of religious gatherings amid the coronavirus outbreak was overturned April 8 after the state's top prosecutor said it likely violates the state constitution.

A staggering 16.8 million Americans have been thrown onto the unemployment rolls in just three weeks, underscoring the terrifying speed with which the coronavirus outbreak has brought world economies to their knees.

The Knights of Columbus, based in New Haven, announced April 7 it is launching a multimillion-dollar food drive and delivery operation to support the nation's food banks, which are reporting unprecedented numbers of people in need of food as the coronavirus pandemic has forced people out of work now for weeks.

Catholics who bought the single-issue strategy find themselves stuck in what once was a fun house now turned house of horrors, incongruously lashed to Trump, while the daily reality is a grim report of the spiraling number of sick and dying.

Theology en la Plaza: How do we shift to an understanding of isolation as "an active, communal undertaking," as opposed to a "suffering passively endured by a solitary individual"?

Young Voices: This Lent, we are stripping away so much. We are left with the presence of God in our solidarity, the coming of spring, phone calls, video chats, emails, and the care and concern we show to one another.

Watch: NCR national correspondent Heidi Schlumpf interviews composer Dan Schutte about his series The Easter Triduum, a digital liturgical celebration of the Triduum for this exceptional year.

Catholic immigration activists in New Jersey held a driving protest in front of state immigration detention centers in Newark April 1, demanding the immediate release of immigrant detainees after confirmed cases of COVID-19 outbreak within the facilities.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has canceled the U.S. bishops' spring general assembly that was planned for June 10-12 in Detroit.

Officials at some of the country's largest Catholic organizations have welcomed the assistance provided under the massive $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act. At the same time, however, the officials called for additional emergency relief and key policy changes so that they can better respond to the burgeoning health crisis.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grow in the U.S. faster than anywhere else in the world, the Catholic bishop of El Paso, Texas, is asking local authorities to release nonviolent migrants at his local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities.

The Rio Grande Valley is underserved by hospitals to begin with, and immigrant detention facilities are showing signs of being affected by COVID-19. Catholic agencies are striving to serve people who are losing jobs and facing other challenges amid the pandemic.

NCR Connections: Every day that passes until our Easter comes is an opportunity to set the path and grow to be more caring, more empathetic, more grateful people. First, we must imagine, then become resolute.

From Where I Stand: The question is what kind of basic truths — principles — must drive us if we are to endure and survive the kind of despair that threatens a national moment like this one?

Pope Francis says he hopes the global Covid-19 pandemic will help the Catholic Church better know how to be both an institution, with certain rules and regulations, and more free-form, able to respond to people's pastoral needs in creative ways.

Hospitals and funeral homes in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, are overwhelmed by the rising number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, said Archbishop Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera.

Religious nonprofits, including schools, parishes and some dioceses, are eligible for assistance under regulations developed to implement portions of the massive $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act.

Across the Middle East and parts of South Asia, bereaved families have faced traumatic restrictions on burying their dead amid the pandemic. Religion and customs that require speedy burials in the largely Muslim region have clashed with fears of COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, and government-mandated lockdowns.

Decolonizing Faith and Society: The neoliberal economy and market democracy by which we live is killing us and the planet. We North Americans need to begin with (un)learning how coloniality lives inside of us.

During this pandemic, "millions of Americans are forced to be hermits and live a monastic life," says the spirituality author. And, in their isolation, many will face what fourth-century desert monks described as acedia.

Francis, the comic strip: Francis and Brother Leo ponder in an empty church.

Grace on the Margins: The "Lentiest Lent ever" has given way to the most harrowing Holy Week ever. But you don't have to believe in the literal crucifixion, death and resurrection story to find meaning in it.

Commentary: In view of the pain of knowing people are dying despite the efforts being made by medical systems and governments, it is essential to try to read this reality through the eyes of our faith.

In a virtual meeting with Baltimore priests, a top Maryland physician briefed them on the characteristics of the coronavirus, including how it's transmitted, and he also urged them to take care of their mental health as they help their parishioners through this pandemic.

Pope Francis established an emergency fund to help communities in the Catholic Church's mission territories affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

In response to the coronavirus, 22 Trappist monks living in New Melleray Abbey in eastern Iowa, about 13 miles from Dubuque, decided to offer pine caskets to financially strapped families with members who have died from Covid-19.

Lawmakers, religious leaders and health experts across the U.S. are wrestling with the question: Does religious freedom mean the freedom to risk infecting your fellow believers — not to mention neighbors — with a deadly virus?

Catholic bioethicists say clinical triage decisions are only part of many broader ethical concerns, including paid sick leave, truthful political communication and payment assistance for testing and treatment.

Commentary: Sheltering in place underscores the American tendency to self-select into safe, like-minded identity groups. This happens in the church, too. Once the crisis has finally abated, how do we reclaim our three-dimensional presence to one another, with all its possibilities and annoyances?

Father Hilary Rodgers loved being around people, loved taking part in the liturgy and was honored to be a priest.

Watch: NCR correspondents Heidi Schlumpf and Joshua J. McElwee explain how the coronavirus pandemic has changed their lives, their reporting and the Catholic Church.

The Chicago Archdiocese made clear that its guidelines did not pertain to emergency baptism: They did not supersede church law that permits any person to conduct the rite "in cases of urgent necessity, when only those things required for the validity of the sacrament must be observed."

Distinctly Catholic: "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." The spirit of this quote has been resurrected as our political leaders try and figure out how to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.

Commentary: Resilience does not mean we are undisturbed or unharmed. It means we are not defined by or limited to our suffering. We are bigger than our struggle. We are more adaptive than we know.

Catholic groups urge governments to still put forward new emissions targets required this year under the Paris Agreement. 

Has President Donald Trump put the lives of his supporters at risk because of his early downplaying of the coronavirus epidemic?

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, called the Chinese Communist Party "morally culpable" for initially covering up the full dangers of the COVID-19 virus, which originated in Wuhan, China.

During his livestreamed daily morning Mass, Pope Francis prayed that the coronavirus pandemic may awaken people's consciences to the plight of homeless men and women suffering in the world.

Young Voices: Shut into my home all day except for a brief walking respite, I have come to know these walls and windows well. And I have started to reframe my reality as a temporary monastic calling.

Francis, the comic strip: With supplies running low, a cartoonist has to do some rationing.

Priestly Diary: Not much is moving around me in Washington, in this season of coronavirus. What is it that the church can offer now in this time of isolation? Spiritual wisdom.

"The Church cannot and will not abandon you!" declares an archbishop as gatherings are shut down in South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana in an effort to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Administering the sacrament of reconciliation via cellphone is impermissible under church teaching, said the chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Divine Worship.

The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments has approved a special "Mass in the Time of Pandemic" to plead for God's mercy and gift of strength in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Starting a new job always involves a learning curve, but Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle got much more than he bargained for when he moved to Rome in February to begin his duties as prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

It's the end of a long shift as a hospital chaplain in Queens, New York, and Fr. Radu Titonea's voice while talking on the phone March 30 is a little raspy. He lets out a mild cough.

As the coronavirus spreads through South America, Catholic Church leaders are calling urgently for governments to protect indigenous people.

Several processions and festivities in honor of Catholic saints in Brazil had to be cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, an unprecedented interruption of centuries-old traditions that impacted thousands of participants.

Distinctly Catholic: It will take more than COVID-19 to kill the ideologies of our day that distort our political landscape. But let's try slaying some of the ideological stupidities the crisis has brought into focus.

Faith Seeking Understanding: It's true that Christ is uniquely present in the Blessed Sacrament, but it's not true that this is the only way God draws near to humanity and the rest of creation.

If there ever was a time for people of all nations to join forces to work together for the common good, it is now. Until the virus is under control everywhere in the world, no one is safe.

As national and local governments have been issuing stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Pope Francis asked people to pray for and assist those who are homeless.

Prisoners in southern Iran broke cameras and caused other damage during a riot, state media reported March 30, the latest in a series of violent prison disturbances in the country, which is battling the most severe coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East.

The mass transition of houses of worship to Zoom and other online video conferencing platforms has meant that religious services are more accessible than ever before. Unfortunately for digital congregants, that means they are also more accessible to online trolls who have plenty of free time to disrupt their services with obscene or hateful interruptions.

As Catholics dutifully sit at home, doing their part to protect vulnerable people from COVID-19, the Holy Spirit has been busy inspiring creative ways to minister in the Archdiocese of Louisville and around the world.

Grace on the Margins: The No. 1 Netflix series is a pornography of everything that is wrong with American culture. But its appeal may say more about us than it does about the characters it depicts.

The constraints of stay-at-home policies aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus are affecting workers — in parishes, the service industries, small businesses, etc. — and Catholic agencies and social advocates are trying to keep up with need while noting this crisis could bring about lasting societal transformation

Perspective: Growing up being prepared for the apocalypse does things to your head. It makes you think about the way the world is stitched together, and how it might unravel and come apart.

Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, who runs the day-to-day operations of the Diocese of Rome in the name of Pope Francis, has tested positive for the coronavirus

The three-week COVID-19 lockdown of India's 1.37 billion people has stranded millions of domestic migrant workers and left people scrambling for food and other basics amid the ensuing harsh and often violent crackdown by police.

Florida officials have arrested the pastor of a megachurch after detectives say he held two Sunday services with hundreds of people and violated a safer-at-home order in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caught entire communities and nations off guard, and the best way to tackle this global crisis is together as a global family, the Pontifical Academy for Life said.

Pope Francis offered his daily morning Mass for those who find themselves living in fear of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world.

As Christian churches cancel in-person services to avoid spreading the novel coronavirus, many have embraced "virtual" Communion: Some celebrate via livestream; others encourage parishioners to bring their own bread to videoconference meetings.

While many churches in Italy remain open, visiting a church to pray is not a valid excuse for leaving one's home during Italy's COVID-19 lockdown, said a note from the Ministry for Internal Affairs.

Roundtable: The living spirit within us today provides for our deepest needs if we seek it and let it through our walls of fear and defensiveness. Tomorrow's crisis isn't yet here; renewal of ourselves is today's job.

Americans don't like talking about death. But experts say discussing the end of life is necessary, especially now as the coronavirus threatens to upend much of our existing dying and grieving processes.

Distinctly Catholic: Who are the 10% of Americans who do not feel that strongly one way or another about President Donald Trump that their attitudes are either unregistered or now in flux?

The Vatican confirmed March 28 that a resident of the Domus Santa Marta, where Pope Francis lives, tested positive for the coronavirus and has been recovering at a Rome-area hospital.

Perspective: Getting out of the house to open spaces with our kids was paramount. I have seen fathers taking their children on bike rides; mothers kicking soccer balls in parks. Everyone is trying to do their best.

The worldwide coronavirus pandemic is not God's judgment on humanity, but God's call on people to judge what is most important to them and resolve to act accordingly from now on, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis expressed his gratitude to the many men and women who have been inspired to help the poor and accompany the sick and the elderly during the coronavirus pandemic.

Catholic hospitals, parish schools and charitable agencies are among the entities hoping to receive partial relief under a massive $2.2 trillion emergency aid package unanimously approved by the Senate in response to the crippling new coronavirus.

Many activists had billed 2020 as pivotal for the global response to climate change. But like so much of society, the environmental movement has had to readjust plans and priorities amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has emerged for many as the voice of reason and integrity as the nation confronts the coronavirus. He's also an alumnus of Regis High School in New York City.

Commentary: The need for sacrifices is just beginning to emerge. Shortages of equipment, medications and even personnel will force us to ration care. How should we as Christians think about this spiritually?

Early in the coronavirus pandemic, even before Archbishop Alexander K. Sample of Portland canceled public Masses, the advice came that Catholics 60 and older should stay away from liturgies.

A 58-year-old Italian monsignor, who works in the Vatican Secretariat of State and lives in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where Pope Francis lives, has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been hospitalized, an Italian newspaper reported March 25.

The number of coronavirus infections closed in on a half-million worldwide March 26, with both Italy and the U.S. on track to surpass China, and a record-shattering 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits in a single week in a stark demonstration of the damage to the world's biggest economy.

Theologians say the Vatican's move shows a seemingly unprecedented level of pastoral care for those who suffer from the virus — especially those who may die in isolation without being able to receive final rites.

It was a scene of hope and humanity as boxes and boxes of medical equipment at St. John's University were packed up and driven over to New York-Presbyterian Queens hospital.

Young Voices: There is pastoral work that needs to be happening, amid the church closures and scramble for priests learning how to livestream Mass. Our church leaders need to reach out to the oldest parishioners.

Distinctly Catholic: That the president would be willing to expose unseen thousands of people to an early death in order to increase his reelection prospects is no surprise, but why are Catholics following this libertarian suit against protecting life?

Doctors working in the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy have launched an appeal in a major medical journal warning the outbreak in their province is out of control.

Joined by Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant church leaders and faithful from around the world, Pope Francis led the recitation of the Lord's Prayer, imploring God's mercy on humanity amid the coronavirus pandemic.

An international aid group said March 25 that closures aimed at containing the coronavirus pandemic are preventing it from reaching 300,000 people in conflict zones across the Middle East, as the coronavirus arrived in war-torn Libya and three more cases were detected in Syria.

Commentary: Our culture's extreme individualism, materialism and libertarian contempt for the common good have come with a cost, and the current crisis should renew commitment to a different political and civic vision.

Catholic shelters and services are grappling with the fast-changing situation across the country, as people who are homeless find themselves in a vulnerable position amid social distancing and quarantine.

Distinctly Catholic: This week, Senate Democrats refused to be bullied into signing off on a bill with no oversight, and our democracy is a bit more safe.

The Vatican is under pressure to let more employees work from home as its offices remain open two weeks after the Italian government ordered Italians home and shut down all non-essential businesses in an urgent attempt to contain the coronavirus.

In an online statement, conservative Catholic Cardinal Raymond Burke said that access to Mass and the sacraments must not be denied even as the world faces the coronavirus pandemic.

Traveling abroad has become a staple of the modern papacy, with the pope taking an average of three or four trips outside Italy each year. As with many other things, the coronavirus outbreak has changed all that.

A Franciscan friar who was on his way to join a new religious community in New York became Washington's first COVID-19 fatality March 20 and the first known U.S. Catholic cleric to die after contracting the coronavirus.

Just Catholic: As most of the church sits in isolation, hoping and praying for an "all clear" message and the chance to resume life as it was, new ways of being church arise.

Grace on the Margins: It is a shock to my system when I am reminded that many of my neighbors not only believe every word Trump says, but they also will go to the mat for him, even as this virus, which he has minimized and lied about, arrives at our doorstep.

The coronavirus threat has stopped us in our tracks and is forcing fundamental questions about who we are and what we will become, about what our communities of faith mean in a time of lockdown and quarantine.

Were you — out of quarantine boredom perhaps — to Google "patron saint of pandemics," you might be surprised by the results.

New Orleans Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond announced midday March 23 he has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

As more and more countries start to feel the economic pinch due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis urged business leaders to seek solutions that will not hurt employees and their families.

Syrians rushed to stock up on food and fuel March 23 amid fears that authorities would resort to even stricter measures after reporting the first coronavirus infection in the country, where the healthcare system has been decimated by nearly a decade of civil war.

Teachers, students and parents alike recover educational routines in the new normal of remote learning in schools across the Chicago Archdiocese in the wake of the global coronavirus outbreak.

Dioceses across the world canceled in-person services in response to the growing COVID-19 pandemic throughout the past week. This new reality created a massive new viewership for televised and livestreamed Masses and worship rituals, and Catholics swiftly met the spiritual need.

While conferences and meetings can be postponed for months because of the coronavirus pandemic, the liturgies of Holy Week and Easter cannot, with the exception of the chrism Mass, said the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments.

Churches and other religious institutions that have chafed at public health experts' calls to fight the virus by avoiding gatherings are under heightened scrutiny as those experts' pleas become edicts from government officials, including Trump.

One byproduct of canceled Masses is no offertory collection. And a byproduct of no offertory collection is puncture wounds in the budgets of parishes, dioceses and national collections.

People who cannot get to confession because of the coronavirus lockdown or another serious reason can go to God directly, be specific about their sins, request pardon and experience God's loving forgiveness, Pope Francis said.

Addressing the difficulty Catholic priests globally are having in hearing confessions of individual persons affected by the highly contagious coronavirus, the Vatican made clear March 20 that it is acceptable for bishops to offer general absolution to groups of people as deemed necessary.

Behind the news of suspended Masses, COVID-19 has prompted layers of response that bring into focus how the church is intertwined with the wider society, reliant on revenue and served by people on payrolls.

Distinctly Catholic: To those who object that it is morally wrong to politicize a crisis, I remind them that the goal of electoral politics is to gain political power so as to achieve particular objectives, the first of which is protecting the citizenry.

NCR Connections: The paradoxes pile up today. We're forced to understand our common humanity, an understanding made possible technologically as never before. Yet we are forced to stay away from one another.

Across the country, houses of worship like City Road and other faith organizations have shut down their in-person services but are mobilizing to assist vulnerable community members who require assistance with grocery shopping, paying bills, picking up prescriptions and other tasks during the outbreak.

For years, Orlando Marquez and his family made the pilgrimage to El Santuario de Chimayó, a Catholic sanctuary located in northern New Mexico and known as the "Lourdes of America." Healing sand from its "el pocito" possesses the power to cure illness and fight cancer, devotees believe.

On March 19, Trump administration officials continued to call out those who have violated government recommendations to avoid meeting in groups larger than 10 people, particularly younger Americans who have continued to dine out at bars and restaurants.

Pope Francis began his early morning Mass praying for prisoners experiencing great uncertainty and worrying about their families who cannot visit them due to lockdown measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

Young Voices: Maybe I'll try other self-care things next week, but this is where I'm starting. The threat of a loneliness epidemic is real, but we have blessed technology to at least head that off for a while.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: Some showing indifference to health of others; coronavirus will reveal class lines; Democratic Illinois representative loses his seat; new book says Trump is not an aberration

Tourism keeps New Orleans going in usual times, but Mardi Gras season visitors and gatherings may have accelerated the spread of coronavirus. Now with most venues shut down and spring festivals canceled, the city counts the costs.

Africa should "prepare for the worst" as the coronavirus begins to spread locally, the World Health Organization's director-general said March 18, while South Africa became the continent's new focus of concern as cases nearly doubled to 116 from two days before.

In Mexico, Brazil, Honduras and El Salvador, as well as many other Latino countries, much of church life has focused around small groups who gather for Bible study, reflection and prayer.

When public Masses in the Archdiocese of Washington were suspended in efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Fr. Scott Holmer, pastor at St. Edward the Confessor Parish in Bowie, Maryland, got creative about bringing the sacraments to his local community.

People must use this time of the coronavirus pandemic to rediscover the importance of small, concrete gestures of affection and care toward others, Pope Francis said in a new interview.

Different diocese in Nigeria, the first sub-Saharan African country to report cases of novel coronavirus, are taking varying actions to keep it from spreading via churches or worship services.

Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue, which appears to balance improbably atop Corcovado mountain, has withstood the worst of what the elements could muster for nearly nine decades. Now it, too, is succumbing to the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

Faith Seeking Understanding: At its core, the communion of saints is an affirmation of the empowering, unifying and healing work of the Holy Spirit among all God's people and creation.

Operated by the Student Life and Ministry Office and the Student Government Association, Iggy's Cupboard is dedicated to providing meals to students, faculty and staff struggling with uncertain access to food.

Distinctly Catholic: Moments like these bring people to show their truest selves, if not always their best selves. Holding out false hopes is dangerous. It encourages people to not take the threat seriously.

The call from a member of my community came at 11:30 March 15 evening. “The test came back positive. I have the virus.”

When students at Harvard University received an email from the school announcing that students had five days to pack up and move out of their residence halls, anxiety spiked across campus.

Grace on the Margins: The Detroit chapter of Dignity has been expelled from its sacred space during a pandemic, a time in which our senses of space, location and home are already in disorienting flux.

As Italy entered its second week of lockdown, Pope Francis urged Christians to remember the elderly who are suffering not only loneliness but also fear due to the spread of the coronavirus.

When Msgr. Richard Woy sees Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on television these days flanked by medical experts issuing the latest guidance on the novel coronavirus he doesn't just see one of the top health officials in the U.S., he sees one of the faithful.

Perspective: An ambulance appeared on our street this morning. Three healthcare workers got out, all wearing white, head-to-toe hazardous material outfits. They entered the building across from ours. It's part of our new pattern of life here in Italy, at the heart of the European epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. 

A climate workshop on community-oriented research was to precede a two-day climate change conference at Loyola University Chicago; it ended up being the only scheduled event that wasn't canceled.

The decision to cancel church gatherings was not easy, but it was correct. Religious leaders who don't follow the advice of public health officials are being reckless and immoral by putting their congregants and others at risk.

Perspective: Religious education for the young is yet another thing that coronavirus has disrupted. I've homeschooled my children in religious ed for the last year, and I can offer some tips. 

There is nothing like being unexpectedly homebound, as the coronavirus has done to us all. NCR film critic Sr. Rose Pacatte suggests some movies we can watch together as grownups, families with children, or solo.

The Vatican office that distributes free tickets to papal events has posted a notice on its website that "the liturgical celebrations of Holy Week will take place without the physical presence of the faithful."

Public Masses are banned throughout Italy, but literally thousands of Masses are celebrated each day and, in addition to watching them on television or computer screens, the faithful can receive "spiritual Communion."

The retrial of the only church official who has ever gone to prison in the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal was delayed March 16 because of the coronavirus outbreak.

President Donald Trump on March 15 called on people to stop hoarding groceries and other supplies as one of the nation's most senior public health officials urged Americans to act with more urgency to protect themselves and others against the coronavirus.

Meeting with friends, dining out, worshiping and other daily routines have nearly halted as nations take drastic steps to try to stop the coronavirus pandemic.

Pastors across the United States delivered sermons to empty pews March 15 as houses of worship adjusted to the reality of the coronavirus pandemic, with the Vatican indicating that the holiest week on its calendar will look vastly different next month.

With Italy on lockdown and Rome streets almost deserted, Pope Francis left the Vatican March 15 in a mini-pilgrimage to an icon and to a crucifix associated with miraculous interventions to save the city and its people.

In an effort to stem the pandemic of COVID-19, bishops' conferences and dioceses around the world began suspending public Masses.

Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, papal vicar of Rome, said he spoke to Pope Francis March 12 before ordering the closure of all churches in Rome because of the coronavirus pandemic; the next day, he said he spoke to the pope again and modified his order.

A couple of weeks ago, Religion Communication Congress executive Shirley Struchen thought plans were set for the once-a-decade conference she had helped organize, just as she had two times before.

Commentary: What does it mean for the community not to gather for Mass for some weeks? What is the meaning of vulnerability and how different can it be in different countries and societies? What does it mean to practice radical hospitality in the time of a pandemic?

St. Patrick's Day parades, long-held traditions in towns and cities throughout the country where onlookers and participants alike get their green on, have been called off or postponed indefinitely, amid fears of coronavirus spread.

Two Dallas Catholic school campuses and a parish have closed after a person showing symptoms of COVID-19 had come into contact with individuals at those school and church communities, school and Diocese of Dallas officials said March 11.

"Social distancing" sounds un-Christian, but we need to listen to medical experts. As with doctors, the first rule of a Christian at this time is "Do no harm." That means not doing anything that might spread the virus to others.

The coronavirus pandemic has prompted multiple religious faiths to change or cancel services as houses of worship try to help contain the disease. But some church leaders are also tackling another task: communicating a message that elevates both faith and science.

Acknowledging how difficult it can be to adapt to restrictive measures aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus, Pope Francis told people watching his morning Mass March 12 that it was for "our own good."

Pope Francis asked people to pray for government officials and leaders who are tasked with making critical decisions and taking drastic measures that may make people unhappy.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear urged churches to cancel worship services and state universities announced classroom closings as officials seek to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

Initially the coronavirus impacted study abroad programs and spring break travel or service opportunities for U.S. colleges and universities.

We say: March 2020 may go down as the month that turned our world on its head, or at least made us think more about the precariousness of the ordinary and the power of the unseen.

A group of priests in Lebanon have quarantined themselves while a pair of their elders are fighting coronavirus. A Catholic hospital in another part of the tiny Mediterranean country has also seen a spread of the COVID-19 as fear of the disease grips the cash-strapped nation.

Italy mulled imposing even tighter restrictions on daily life and announced billions in financial relief March 11 to cushion economic shocks from the coronavirus, its latest efforts to adjust to the fast-evolving health crisis that also silenced the usually bustling heart of the Catholic faith, St. Peter’s Square.

Fordham University in New York announced March 9 that it was suspending public classes on all of its New York-area campuses and would continue these courses online March 11.

During a live broadcast of his daily morning Mass, Pope Francis prayed for victims of the coronavirus epidemic and the many health care workers fighting its spread.

Italy took a page from China's playbook Sunday, attempting to lock down 16 million people — more than a quarter of its population — for nearly a month to halt the relentless march of the new coronavirus across Europe.

Mexico's bishops said March 6 the Vatican had suspended a clerical sex abuse fact-finding and assistance mission to Mexico due to the spreading coronavirus in Italy and now the Vatican.

Palestinian officials on March 5 closed the storied Church of the Nativity in the biblical city of Bethlehem indefinitely over fears of the new coronavirus, weeks ahead of the busy Easter holiday season.

The Vatican confirmed the walled city-state's first case of the new coronavirus March 6 and closed some offices as a precaution while Pope Francis continued recovering from a cold.

Due to Italy's coronavirus scare, a bevy of scheduled conferences are being postponed or just canceled, and many tourists are changing plans at the last minute.

Catholic aid agencies are protecting their staff's safety as they increase their worldwide efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19. Catholic dioceses, too, are following protocols issued by their government health ministries.

Dioceses nationwide are taking precautions to guard against the spread of the coronavirus and reminding parishioners to take commonsense steps related to hygiene in their personal lives.

After an unsubstantiated report in an Italian newspaper sparked global headlines March 3 that Pope Francis had been tested for exposure to the coronavirus, the Vatican reaffirmed in a statement that the pontiff was only suffering from a normal cold.

Amid concerns over the current outbreak of the coronavirus, several U.S. Catholic colleges and universities have canceled their international programs in Italy this semester or are closely monitoring the situation and prepared to cut programs short if necessary.

While school systems around the country are discussing what to do in response to the coronavirus, St. Raphael Academy in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, had to put its plans into immediate action when a member of the school community tested "presumptive positive" for a strain of coronavirus after participating in a recent school trip to Italy.

The number of new virus infections rose worldwide along with fears of a weakening global economy, even as cases in China dropped to their lowest level in six weeks on Mar. 2 and hundreds of patients at the outbreak's epicenter were released from hospitals.

Amusement parks, sports events, religious gatherings, even school. More and more things in a growing swath of the world are now affected by the new virus. And that's messing with global financial markets as basic business, trade and tourism suffers from the disruptions.

Pope Francis did not attend a traditional penitential service with priests of the Diocese of Rome due to a mild cold, the Vatican said.

With the biggest two days of celebration and costume parades left, the famous pre-Lenten "Carnevale" of Venice was canceled as were Ash Wednesday services and even funeral Masses throughout the diocese.

Schools were shuttered, churches told worshipers to stay away and some mass gatherings were banned as cases of a new virus swelled Feb. 21 in South Korea, the newest front in a widening global outbreak.

The restrictions and dwindling crowds in religiously diverse places of worship underscore the extent of the scare over the outbreak that has permeated many aspects of life in the hard-hit Asian region.

The threat of spreading the coronavirus has forced Catholic officials in Hong Kong to suspend all church programs Feb. 15-28, including Sunday Masses and the Ash Wednesday liturgy that marks the beginning of Lent.

The Chinese respiratory coronavirus has spread to almost every province in mainland China, which extended its Spring Festival holiday by three days to delay travel by up to 500 million people.