‘We were here’ — health care chaplains reflect on COVID-19 ministry March 10, 2021By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service Filed Under: Coronavirus, Feature, News, Video, World News As the coronavirus pandemic swept the nation this past year, hospital chaplains — already accustomed to helping people cope with sickness and death — found their ministries took on added significance.
Hope, after the long, long Lent March 10, 2021By Christopher Gunty Catholic Review Filed Under: Behind the Headlines, Commentary, Coronavirus, Lent It will take months, perhaps the rest of the year, to get to the point where enough people have been vaccinated that everything can return to normal – or a new normal. It will be exceedingly good to get back to Mass and the sacraments, resume gatherings with friends and families, and participate in parish activities and in-person classes.
How badly do we want to return? March 9, 2021By Greg Erlandson Catholic News Service Filed Under: Commentary, Coronavirus, Guest Commentary The moment is arriving when parish and diocesan staff must use all the tools available to them to create a welcoming community, giving people a reason to come back as soon as they feel safe to do so.
Americans’ mental health needs grow dramatically amid pandemic March 8, 2021By Dennis Sadowski Catholic News Service Filed Under: Coronavirus, Feature, News, World News The coronavirus pandemic has taken an emotional toll on Americans, with mental health professionals reporting they are getting more requests for assistance from people feeling helpless and experiencing anxiety and depression.
Bishop Rhoades: Latest COVID-19 vaccine can be used in good conscience March 4, 2021By Catholic News Service Catholic News Service Filed Under: Coronavirus, Feature, News, World News In a new video, Bishop Kevin Rhoades, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine and a former rector of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, reiterated that use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine “can be used in good moral conscience.”
One year in: Families, institutions adjust to ongoing pandemic March 3, 2021By Paul McMullen Catholic Review Filed Under: #IamCatholic, Coronavirus, Feature, Local News, News, Schools The Catholic Review checked in on a home, a parish and a hospital to see how they continue to adapt to COVID-19.
Bishops address concern over Johnson & Johnson vaccine’s abortion link March 2, 2021By Catholic News Service Catholic News Service Filed Under: Coronavirus, Feature, News, World News Use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, approved Feb. 27 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, raises moral concerns because it was “was developed, tested and is produced with abortion-derived cell lines,” the chairmen of two U.S. bishops’ committees said March 2.
We need rituals to mourn March 2, 2021By Laura Kelly Fanucci Catholic News Service Filed Under: Commentary, Coronavirus, Guest Commentary Theologians and liturgists praise the power of rituals at the core of our faith. Rhythms of prayer and traditions of worship orient our lives toward God and set a solid foundation in an ever-shifting world.
COVID-19 bill OK’d without Hyde language to prevent funding of abortion March 2, 2021By Julie Asher Catholic News Service Filed Under: Coronavirus, Feature, News, Respect Life, U.S. Congress, World News On the House floor ahead of the vote — which came at 2 in the morning (EST) — Rep. Chris Smith, N.J., criticized Pelosi and the House Rules Committee for refusing to allow a vote on an amendment to add language to the bill “to ensure that taxpayers aren’t forced to subsidize abortion,” as provided by the long-standing Hyde Amendment.
Health care chaplains in Baltimore and beyond embrace self-care in COVID-19 work February 26, 2021By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service Filed Under: Coronavirus, Feature, News, Video, World News “This suffering on a daily basis takes an emotional toll, ” said Sandra Michocki, a chaplain at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore. “In order for it not to swallow us,” she said, chaplains have to remember that God is always with them and “when we’re weary or we’re tired, we show up anyway; that’s all we can do.”
Cardinal prays on CNN program marking 500,000 COVID-19 deaths in U.S. February 23, 2021By Richard Szczepanowski Catholic News Service Filed Under: Coronavirus, Feature, News, World News During a Feb. 22 evening program on CNN, Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory offered a prayer for those who have died from COVID-19 asking God to “grant enteral peace to all our sisters and brothers lost to this disease.”
Pasadena parish cites pandemic in decision to close preschool February 23, 2021By Catholic Review Staff Catholic Review Filed Under: Coronavirus, Local News, News, Schools Seven months after declining enrollment led St. Jane Frances School in Pasadena to transition from a pre-K3 through grade 8 school to an early learning center serving 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds, it has announced that ongoing financial issues related to the coronavirus pandemic will close the preschool at the end of the current academic year.
