The economic cost of lockdowns means families should be allowed to let elderly relatives with COVID die by letting nature take its course. The comments come from staunch Catholic and former Australian Liberal Party Prime Minister, Tony Abbott. Abbott claims COVID is costing as much as A$200,000 (~NZ $220,000) to give an elderly person an Read more
The pandemic is highlighting and exacerbating social problems, especially inequality, Pope Francis said at his General Audience last Wednesday. Focusing his talk on the fourth of his “Healing the World” series, Francis is urging everyone to check statistics to see how many children are dying of hunger because of a poor distribution of wealth and Read more
Wearing a mask at services has been recommended by the leaders of the four main Churches in Ireland. Catholic Archbishop Eamon Martin (pictured), Church of Ireland primate Archbishop John McDowell, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s Rt Revd David Bruce and the Methodist Church in Ireland’s Revd Tom McKnight released a joint statement saying it is Read more
Santa Fe priests exceeding the five-minute homily time limit have been warned they could lose the faculty to preach. The Santa Fe archdiocese says the restriction is part of its response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In a 31 July memo, Archdiocesan vicar general Fr. Glennon Jones says the archdiocesan chancery had “received reports of Read more
Pope Francis has donated ventilators and ultrasound scanners to hospitals in coronavirus-ravaged Brazil. In a Aug. 17 press statement, papal almoner Cardinal Konrad Krajewski said that 18 Dräger intensive care ventilators and six Fuji portable ultrasound scanners would be shipped to Brazil on the pope’s behalf. Brazil has reported 3.3 million cases of COVID-19 and Read more
What is the proper spiritual response to the coronavirus pandemic? Although many Catholics seek to use this period as “a time of renewal,” as one priest put it, a vocal minority are approaching the pandemic with words more suited to culture warriors than to spiritual warfare. Any Catholic who has spent time on social media Read more
The Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy ordered an Argentine seminary to close, says Argentine bishop Eduardo Maria Taussig of San Rafael. Taussig (pictured) says the closure of the seminary in his diocese was ordered after a controversy surrounding the reception of the Eucharist during the coronavirus (COVID19) pandemic. He also noted the Congregation said that due Read more
Australia’s Catholic bishops have identified a looming mental health crisis as their priority social justice focus this year. During the past year Australian’s resilience has been tested with the country coping with droughts and deadly bushfires followed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the uncertainty that goes with it. “People experiencing mental ill-health are not some Read more
We are in the midst of a global health crisis that already has inflicted a significant humanitarian and economic toll on the United States. For now, we must try to contain the spread of Covid-19 through physical distancing and face-covering. But we will reach another turning point when a vaccine to prevent the disease has Read more
While religious leaders play a vital part in conveying messages of peace, solidarity and harmony, a prominent Catholic leader in Myanmar has used that important role to decry the hunger and food crisis in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, who advocates for peace, minority rights and economic justice, has Read more