VATICAN CITY -- Joined by Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant church leaders and faithful from around the world, Pope Francis led the recitation of the Lord's Prayer, imploring God's mercy on humanity amid the coronavirus pandemic.

VATICAN CITY -- With the number of priests and religious dying from coronavirus-related illnesses rising, Pope Francis offered his prayers for those who died after being infected helping COVID-19 patients and their communities.

After previously cancelling public celebrations of the sacraments including daily and Sunday Masses, the Archdiocese of Toronto has taken the additional step of entirely closing its churches to public access.

VATICAN CITY -- Citing the increasing loss of lives to COVID-19 and a lack of medical resources, an Iranian cleric has urged Pope Francis to do what he can to help get U.S. sanctions against Iran lifted.

ROME -- With more than half of its seminarians already back in the United States, the Pontifical North American College in Rome is sending its students home.

VATICAN CITY -- As more and more countries start to feel the economic pinch due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis urged business leaders to seek solutions that will not hurt employees and their families.

VATICAN CITY -- In response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis said he will give an extraordinary blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world) at 6 p.m. Rome time March 27.

Every crisis can teach us something about ourselves. Each is a chance to revise the way we live and the way we think about what is important and which people in society deserve our respect and admiration.

I had a coronavirus earlier this year.

Not THAT coronavirus. It was just a common cold, which is one of the many types of coronaviruses out there.

The global pandemic that threatens lives is also bad news for Church finances — with Toronto’s ShareLife and the national Share Lent campaigns thrown into uncertainty by school closures and Mass cancellations.

VATICAN CITY -- Despite the COVID-19 pandemic that is causing public Mass cancellations worldwide, the liturgies of Holy Week and Easter can not be postponed or suspended, said the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments.

The annual Good Friday procession through downtown Toronto streets is another victim of the COVID-19 pandemic.

SYDNEY -- Catholic dioceses in Australia began canceling Masses as the government limited indoor gatherings to fewer than 100 people in mid-March in an effort to contain COVID-19.

VATICAN CITY -- In places particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic and with severe limits on people leaving their homes, conditions may exist to grant general absolution without people personally confessing their sins first, the Vatican said.

Society’s most vulnerable are often lost in the shuffle at the best of times, but with the world being blindsided by COVID-19 those operating programs for the homeless and marginalized are working to ensure these people are not forgotten.