OTTAWA -- The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a challenging learning experience for the Catholic Church in Canada, and that continued when the first-ever online Plenary Assembly of Canada’s bishops began Sept. 21 as bishops from across the nation gathered in front of their computers to get down to business.

MONTREAL -- The Quebec government took religious leaders by surprise by announcing Sept. 20 that the maximum number of people allowed to participate in an event in a place of worship would be lowered from 250 to 50 in all regions of the province, starting Sept. 21.

Cardinal Thomas Collins said there is no mistaking what the last six months of dealing with COVID-19 has been: a plague on our world.

Awkward floated to my lips a few times last week before I saw the pattern. The stumbling and crashing of growing children and adolescents finding themselves in bigger bodies than the days before. Constant adjustments during mask practice sessions. Remembering the diapers and the keys and the shoes, only to forget to pack lunch in a new season’s morning routine. We are making it through, but it is painfully awkward.

Six months since seminarians were sent home as a precaution against the rising tide of COVID-19, Canadian seminaries are only now recommencing community living, formation and on-campus lectures. 

With schools returning to semi-normal following the pandemic lockdown, traditional homeschooling families say they too are happy to resume teaching their children under some sense of normalcy.

The rapid proliferation of COVID-19 prevented ShareLife, the Archdiocese of Toronto’s annual charitable appeal, from launching its major parish fundraising campaign on the last weekend of March as intended. 

Back to school shopping looks a bit different this year and a Toronto high school teacher wants to make sure every student in the GTA has what they need to stay safe in a time of pandemic.

Patria and Joe Rivera met the challenge of day-to-day life during a pandemic by pouring their energies into creative pursuits. 

The news that parishes have taken a financial punch to the gut during the pandemic is not surprising. What can’t happen is allowing them to wallow in financial uncertainty, threatening the services that have defined Catholic values and, in so many ways, our lives. 

The eagerness that normally greets the opening of a new school year won’t be found this year. Instead of excitement, new friends, greeting old friends and the anticipation of what will come, these emotions have been replaced by anxiety, fear and concern for our children and grandchildren’s future health. 

KNOCK, Ireland -- The Marian shrine at Knock announced Aug. 10 that in addition to postponing the popular Knock Novena and pilgrimage because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the shrine and its church would be closed for the Aug. 15 feast of the Assumption of Mary to ensure pilgrims do not arrive anyway.

Ontario’s high school and elementary students will be back in school in September, with significant provincial investment in measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. 

Fr. David Reilander spent the early days of the COVD-19 shutdown alongside Catholic Missions In Canada’s financial and administration director Lina Kim diagnosing the potential impacts the pandemic would have on its operations.

VATICAN CITY -- As governments and world leaders struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic, they must also work harder to protect victims of human trafficking, said the Vatican-based international network of Catholic charities.