Mickey Conlon, The Catholic Register

Mickey Conlon, The Catholic Register

Priests have not been spared from being infected — and dying — as COVID-19 sweeps the world.

Viewership has skyrocketed, appreciative comments are flowing in from around the world and the phone is ringing constantly in the Markham, Ont., offices of the National Catholic Broadcasting Council. It certainly isn’t business as usual.

Relief programs implemented by the federal government to counter the economic fallout from COVID-19 have staved off significant pay cuts for priests and saved staff at the Archdiocese of Toronto offices and parishes from layoffs. 

The sign on the door may read “Closed until further notice” at Loyola House Ignatius Jesuit Centre and other retreat centres around the country, but that doesn’t mean spiritual life needs to take a break.

Fr. Luis Lapinid can’t help but feel a little helpless in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak.

With Ontario schools officially shuttered until at least the start of May, education partners are ramping up plans to continue teaching students at home.

The needs of the thousands of people served by ShareLife agencies don’t go away in a time of crisis.

When Fr. Rico Passero celebrates Mass in these days of crisis, he does so with a full congregation joining him.

In a unanimous decision, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has upheld the right of separate schools in the province to receive government funding for the education of non-Catholic students.

Catholic dioceses around the world are preparing for a  Holy Week of empty churches and virtual liturgies — and Easter Masses with empty pews — amid widespread global shutdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19.