Catholic churches should be allowed to reopen before Pentecostal churches, or mosques owing to their different styles of worship, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster says. At the moment places of worship in England and Wales come under step three of the government’s recovery strategy. This means they will not be allowed to reopen Read more
Small groups gathering for scripture services could be a better option than public Masses until the pandemic has further subsided, says German bishop Heiner Wilmer. By gathering for scripture services, people will gain new experiences with new and familiar forms of praying together, says Wilmer. “I am convinced that these new and familiar forms of Read more
Helping poor and jobless people is one of the ways the Catholic Church is planning to help resolve the post-pandemic fallout, Vatican official Father Augusto Zampini says. Helping these people is not a form of socialism, it’s Church teaching. Zampini says the Church’s advocacy for the poor has resulted in some people accusing it of Read more
A group of children made a virtual First Holy Communion via video link during the weekend as Catholic Communion ceremonies have been cancelled because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic restrictions. Ten students from three primary schools in Northern Ireland took part in a special video link-up with local parish priest Fr George Begley. Jane O’Kelly, Read more
A Kenyan bishop said testing potential coronavirus vaccines on his countrymen could disrespect human dignity, and amount to a breach of the country’s constitution, especially if Kenyans are not fully informed of the risks involved in testing new drugs. “Whereas the Covid-19 pandemic is a grave matter at hand, it should not in any way Read more
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on religious leaders to join together in countering “inaccurate and harmful messages” as the world fights the COVID-19 pandemic. In a May 12 video meeting on the role of faith leaders in addressing the challenges of the current health crisis he pointed out how “extremists and radical groups are Read more
One of San Francisco’s oldest churches has joined the chorus of complaints that Zooming is not safe – with a lawsuit claiming its bible study class was “Zoombombed” with pornography. “The footages were sick and sickening – portraying adults engaging in sex acts with each other and performing sex acts on infants and children, in Read more
Pope Francis is being accused of “blasphemy” and “sacrilege” by some Catholics for participating in an interfaith prayer Thursday with Muslims, Jews and Christians, calling on God to end the coronavirus pandemic. The Abu Dhabi-based multifaith Higher Committee on Human Fraternity formed after the pope’s historic visit in 2019 to the Arabian peninsula. Its nine Read more
Caritas – the Catholic agency for justice, peace and development, has warned of spiralling poverty across the European Union (EU) in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. “Solidarity is now more urgent than ever for reducing poverty in Europe and worldwide, especially given the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic”, Caritas-Europa says. “We urge EU Read more
Pope Francis will stop livestreaming daily Mass from the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta guesthouse on 19 May as public Masses are set to resume in Italy this weekend. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni says on 18 May, Francis will celebrate his daily morning Mass at the tomb of St. John Paul II inside St. Peter’s Basilica. Read more