For the second year in a row, Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland, Ont., won’t be open to the public this summer.

The uncertainty surrounding lifting restrictions to stem the spread of the coronavirus is beginning to take a toll on Canada’s shrines and religious pilgrimages.

Thousands of Catholics gathered at locations across southern Ontario during August to greet and venerate the renowned statue of Our Lady of Fatima.

Mystics, missionaries and martyrs helped found the Church in Canada. Their lives of faith, their dreams, their failures and successes set the template for who we are meant to be. Which is why a summer pilgrimage to the Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland, Ont., can be more than a pleasant Sunday outing.

Before George MacDonald met Pope John Paul II 30 years ago his life looked bleak.

The Town of Midland's Planning and Development Committee won't be talking over plans for a metal and industrial waste recycling facility next to the Martyrs' Shrine at its Dec. 7 meeting.

The Recycling Specialties Inc. proposal for an open-air waste sorting facility on the doorstep of the shrine is off the agenda while the company continues to work on its plans.

Meanwhile, Midland Mayor Gord McKay tells The Catholic Register relocating the Recycling Specialties yard away from the Wye Marsh, Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons and the Martyrs' Shrine is a distinct possibility.