New York City, N.Y., Mar 21, 2020 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- As the coronavirus pandemic spreads across the United States, the ministry of hospital chaplains is essential for patients and health care professionals. One New York priest told CNA on Thursday that hospitals are the front line for saving souls, as well as lives. “The

Augsburg, Germany, Mar 21, 2020 / 09:00 am (CNA).- Most of the community at the European seminary of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter are sick from coronavirus, and the community is relying on providence and uniting itself with the sick throughout the world. “The virus did its work in the seminary, and now the

Vatican City, Mar 21, 2020 / 06:00 am (CNA).- As more Catholics around the world find themselves unable to receive the Eucharist due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis provided an example of a spiritual communion prayer that can be said from home. “My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy

Denver, Colo., Mar 21, 2020 / 04:00 am (CNA).- The policy of social distancing means that the newly-homebound are seeing less of coworkers than they did just weeks ago. They’re seeing fewer friends too. But they might be seeing a lot more of their family, or their roommates. And that isn't easy. For some, especially

Washington D.C., Mar 20, 2020 / 12:00 pm (CNA).- Efforts to combat the spread of coronavirus should not be used to override ethical restrictions on the use of aborted fetal tissue in medical research, Catholic bioethicists warned on Thursday. The warning came after some scientists called for the lifting of a ban on use of tissue

Rome, Italy, Mar 20, 2020 / 11:53 am (CNA).- Two convents, one in Rome and one in a town nearby the capital city, have been isolated as the majority of religious sisters in the communities tested positive for COVID-19. According to Italian news agency ANSA, 59 sisters have tested positive for coronavirus between the two

Jerusalem, Mar 20, 2020 / 11:30 am (CNA).- As Easter is approaching, the Holy Land is enduring tough times: the sacred sites are shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic, and pilgrimages have come to an end. These events “meaningfully impact our religious communities, especially for the lack of the Eucharist,” Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa told

Vatican City, Mar 20, 2020 / 11:05 am (CNA).- Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, has said that the coronavirus pandemic may justify the use of general absolution, in extraordinary circumstances, for Catholics unable to go to individual confession. The Apostolic Penitentiary in Rome is responsible for issues touching the sacrament of penance