Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, executive director of archdiocesan Catholic Charities, said emergency food distribution in recent weeks was made possible thanks to the dedication of agency staffers and the generosity of agency partners. Additional food distribution projects are being planned, he said, as more New Yorkers face dire circumstances stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. “We’re grateful Read more
World
Indian court pardons boy who stole to feed family
Thursday, April 23rd, 2020A court in Bihar’s Nalanda district has pardoned a 16-year-old boy, detained for snatching a woman’s purse, after it was found that the accused had stolen to feed his brother and mentally-challenged mother, who were hungry for several days due to the nationwide lockdown. Juvenile Justice Board Principal Magistrate Manavendra Mishra also directed the officials Read more
Vatican donates ventilators to hospitals in Syria
Thursday, April 23rd, 2020In the name of Pope Francis, the Congregation for Eastern Churches said it is sending ten ventilators to Syria and three to St Joseph’s Hospital in Jerusalem to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. The donations were among the first items announced by the congregation as it launched an emergency fund in response to the pandemic. Read more
New hymn composed for pandemic
Monday, April 20th, 2020
A new hymn expressing hope and trust in God has been composed for this time of pandemic. Father Michael Joncas, whose compositions include “On Eagle’s Wings,” is a well-known American composer of liturgical music. He says the idea for the hymn roused him from sleep at three in the morning at the end of last Read more
Online Masses and spiritual communion aren’t the Church
Monday, April 20th, 2020
Pope Francis is calling online Masses and spiritual communion “dangerous”. His concern is that detached from the church, God’s people and the Sacraments, the COVID-19 lockdown may cause people to live the faith only for themselves. After dedicating Sunday’s Mass to expectant mothers, whose needs are in his prayers during the pandemic, Francis focused his Read more
Mass attendance trebles during lockdown
Monday, April 20th, 2020
Mass attendance has trebled in a Welsh diocese due to online services being broadcast. The Welsh bishops’ conference website says about 1300 people viewed the Palm Sunday Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral. This is three times the normal congregation for that service. There has also been a vast increase in daily Mass attendance in the Read more
Pope’s joke about holy water censored
Monday, April 20th, 2020
Footage of Pope Francis being given a bottle of whisky and referring to it as ‘the real water of life’, has been censored from a new documentary film about the Scots College in Rome. Director Tony Kearney of Solus Productions followed the Scots College seminarians over 18 months in 2018 and 2019. “We filmed the Read more
Orthodox Easter monitored by drones in Greece
Monday, April 20th, 2020
Concerned Greek authorities were at the ready to monitor Orthodox worshippers on Sunday as the faithful celebrated Easter. Ensuring worshippers complied with the country’s bans on movement amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic were of concern to the authorities. Law enforcers monitored churches. In addition, streets were patrolled and drones deployed. Nikos Hardalias, Greece’s civil protection Read more
Zoom marriages are now legal in New York
Monday, April 20th, 2020In New York, the US state hit hardest by Covid-19, the pandemic has disrupted life for millions. Non-essential businesses have been ordered to shut their doors and New Yorkers asked to remain at home as much as possible. But at least one part of daily life will now have a chance to resume. Today, governor Read more
Nuns step in as nursing home loses its staff
Monday, April 20th, 2020A group of nuns have reportedly volunteered to be locked inside a coronavirus hit nursing home in Poland after numbers of staff there were dramatically reduced by infection and quarantine measures. According to the Polish TV site TVN24, 10 sisters from the Congregation of St. Dominic stepped in when a coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in a Read more