The Vatican health service will begin vaccinating employees and Vatican citizens against COVID-19 using the Pfizer vaccine, the director of the Vatican health service told Vatican News.
Coronavirus
Church Pandemic Financial Forecast: Mostly Cloudy, Some Rays of Sunshine
The signals were clear at the start of the pandemic. No Masses, no offertory income. No offertory income, nothing to assess by the diocese. Nothing in the diocese to assess, reduced revenue to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Pope Francis to Celebrate Early Mass Dec. 24 Because of COVID-19 Curfew
Pope Francis will celebrate the Vatican’s traditional Christmas “Mass during the Night” Dec. 24, but will begin the liturgy at 7:30 p.m. local time so that the few people invited to attend can get home in time to observe Italy’s 10 p.m. curfew.
Churches Show How to Financially Survive During Pandemic
As the COVID-19 rages on, pastors in the Diocese of Brooklyn are coming up with ways to keep their churches financially afloat during the pandemic when social distancing rules are sharply curtailing attendance at Masses and most revenue streams have been brought to a halt.
Pope Francis Says Catholics Can Receive Plenary Indulgence for Guadalupe Devotion
With the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe closed for her feast to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Pope Francis said Catholics still can receive a plenary indulgence Dec. 11 and 12 for their Marian devotion if they follow certain conditions.
Bishop: Pandemic Has ‘Providential Opportunity’ for U.S. Catholic Education
Bishop Thomas A. Daly of Spokane says the COVID-19 pandemic “has given us a providential opportunity to really examine why we have our Catholic schools in the midst of so much illness.” Bishop Daly chairs the Committee on Education for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
‘Let My People Worship,’ Archbishop Says After California Church Decision
In response to the Supreme Court’s Dec. 3 order saying federal judges should take another look at pandemic limits on California churches, San Francisco’s archbishop said: “The time is overdue for our civil officials to work with us and other churches on worshiping safely.”
Local Catholic School Enrollments Have Risen as COVID Cases Remain Low
As the first trimester of the school year comes to a close on Dec. 7, the 69 Catholic schools and academies across Brooklyn and Queens continue to go above and beyond for their communities. Children are still learning the fundamentals, while adhering to health and safety guidelines, through in-person learning or a hybrid learning model.
Five Louisiana Priests Who Died in 1873 Pandemic Considered for Sainthood
After Father Peter Mangum anointed a 98-year-old woman who had COVID-19, he couldn’t help but think of five French priests who sacrificed their lives to care for the sick through a yellow fever epidemic in the late nineteenth century. The Shreveport priest then thought of Fathers Jean Pierre, Narcisse Le Biler, François Le Vézouët, Isidore Quémerias and Louis Marie Gergaud – the French priests who came to Louisiana during the 1873 yellow fever epidemic.
Mexican Church, Civic Leaders: No Pilgrims at Basilica for Guadalupe Feast
Mexican church and civic officials have canceled public feast celebrations for Mexico’s patroness at her shrine in Mexico City due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The celebration normally attracts 10 million pilgrims to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the world’s most-visited Marian shrine.