Italian Bishops’ Conference Lifts Remaining COVID Restrictions

With the World Health Organization’s declaration that COVID-19 “no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern,” the leadership of the Italian bishops’ conference said church activities, including liturgies, could be celebrated as they were before the pandemic began in 2020.

Diocese of Brooklyn Prepares For 2023 World Youth Day

Two years may seem a ways off, but the Diocese of Brooklyn is already planning for the intercontinental edition of World Youth Day (WYD), scheduled to be held in Lisbon, Portugal in 2023. Father Gerard J. Sauer, diocesan director of pilgrimages and pastor of St. Patrick’s in Bay Ridge, said the diocese is keeping health and safety measures in mind and remaining attentive to COVID-19-related news and updates.

At Rosary, Pope Francis Prays Resources Move From Military to Pandemic Prevention

Under the gaze of a seventh-century icon of Mary, Pope Francis launched a monthlong, global recitation of the rosary, pleading for Mary’s intercession for the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. And he prayed May 1 that Mary would move people’s consciences “so that the enormous amounts spent to increase and perfect weapons are instead used to promote research to prevent similar catastrophes in the future.”