Reports of a dying priest giving the respirator donated by his parish to a younger patient are not true, the secretary general of his diocese, Fr. Giulio Dellavite, says. While Fr. Giuseppe Berardelli (pictured) is remembered fondly by those who knew him as a man of kindness and self-sacrifice, he did not do this. “There Read more
An Italian priest is one of the millions of people currently locked-down due to the coronavirus pandemic. He is also one of the many who are still trying to bring a sense of normality in these uncertain and scary times. As we are not able to leave our homes, except to shop or go to Read more
A person who lives in the same Vatican residence as Pope Francis has tested positive for coronavirus and is being treated in an Italian hospital, the Rome newspaper Il Messaggero reported on Wednesday. The Vatican had no immediate comment on the report. Francis, who has cancelled public appearances and is conducting his general audiences via Read more
The Vatican daily newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, which Pope Francis has jokingly called “the party newspaper”, suspended printing for only the third time in nearly 160 years on Wednesday due to the coronavirus. The paper, which was founded in 1861, will continue publishing online and most of its staff of about 60, including 20 journalists, will Read more
A Catholic priest in Kerala has been arrested for violating the Covid-19 advisory against conducting Holy Mass in which more than 100 people attended. Fr. Pauly Padayatti, vicar of Nithya Sahaya Matha (Mother of Perpetual Help) church at Koodapuzha near Chalakudy in Thrissur district has been arrested by the police. Despite the strict restrictions of Read more
A 95-year-old grandmother has become the oldest person in Italy to recover from the coronavirus. Alma Clara Corsini has been able to return home after beating the potentially fatal virus, which has so far claimed 5,500 lives and infected nearly 60,000 people in Italy. She was admitted to a hospital near Modena in the north Read more
Digital media Masses need guidelines to set them apart from other TV shows people watch, theologian Dr. Katherine Schmidt says. “There are ways to make choices in our livestreams and recordings that mark them as a different kind of space, a sacred space, to minimize distractions,” she says. Schmidt, who has been studying the relationship Read more
Fifty-nine nuns belonging to two convents in Rome are said to have tested positive for COVID-19. Forty of the sisters belong to the Daughters of San Camillo convent on the outskirts of Rome, while 19 of the 21 sisters from the Angelic Sisters of Saint Paul convent in Rome are reportedly infected. Local authorities have Read more
Confession cannot be heard by telephone says a Peruvian bishop. His decision comes just five days after authorising priests in his diocese to do so. Last week, Bishop Reinhold Nann told priests of his diocese that while they could not hold public Masses or religious services, they could hear sacramental confessions by telephone. He felt Read more
Homelessness is a particularly serious issue during the COVID-19 global pandemic say several US Catholic Charities. Furthermore, the number of people without homes is predicted to increase if there is a pandemic-related economic downturn. In Southern California, Catholic Charities of Los Angeles says the weight of addressing homelessness in the region is already at a Read more