VATICAN CITY -- Cardinal Mario Zenari, the nuncio to Syria, said he is raising special prayers these days to Sts. Cosmas and Damian, fourth-century physicians who offered free care for the sick in Syria.

As a young aid worker, Christian Champigny spent weeks confined to his house in poor countries while war and revolution raged in the streets outside.

Many of the financial measures being rolled out by governments to help people weather the COVID-19 storm would be unnecessary if Canada had a basic income policy, say basic income advocates.

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.

OTTAWA -- Francisco Rico-Martinez knows that many of the people he helps at a Toronto refugee centre are worried about how they and their families could be impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis.

Cardinal Thomas Collins will participate in a live online interaction with parents and children as part of extensive Holy Week and Easter activities and services announced by the Archdiocese of Toronto.

QUEBEC CITY -- As the Quebec government tightens measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and allows only essential services, the Catholic dioceses of the province have started temporary layoffs affecting hundreds of Catholic employees and priests.

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. 

CALGARY -- A few weeks ago, Jamie Hunka sat at a desk in one of The Mustard Seed’s support centres helping job seekers write resumes and master interviewing skills.

In hospital hallways, where the virus wages psychological warfare on doctors, nurses, cleaners and orderlies, hospital chaplain John Zamiska fears evil.

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

YANGON, Myanmar -- Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, called the Chinese Communist Party "morally culpable" for initially covering up the full dangers of the COVID-19 virus, which originated in Wuhan, China.

VATICAN CITY -- With Holy Week celebrations closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis postponed the traditional Good Friday collection for the Holy Land to September.

EDMONTON -- Chelsy Vanderberg’s anxieties are heightened each time she prepares for another night shift at the Grey Nuns Community Hospital, on the frontlines in the fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus.

VATICAN CITY -- The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments has approved a special "Mass in the Time of Pandemic" to plead for God's mercy and gift of strength in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.