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.

The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing Catholic youth around the world to cope with Mass cancellations, isolation and increasing fear. Yet even in this darkness, their faith is lighting the way. 

OTTAWA -- Canada’s Catholic bishops have joined with other faith leaders across the country to offer hope and solidarity to all Canadians as the nation faces an unprecedented health and economic crisis because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ROME -- Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, the papal vicar for Rome, was hospitalized after testing positive for the COVID-19 virus, the Diocese of Rome announced.

OTTAWA -- Two Ottawa-based faith leaders have joined together to offer comforting words to Canadians during the COVID-19 health crisis that has closed most places of worship across the country.

ROME -- While many churches in Italy remain open, visiting a church to pray is not a valid excuse for leaving one's home during Italy's COVID-19 lockdown, said a note from the Ministry for Internal Affairs.

In a crisis, hard decisions have to be made.

When there aren’t enough ventilators or Intensive Care Unit beds for everyone who needs one, it’s left to medical ethicists to provide guidance to clinicians faced with dire decisions about who lives and who dies.