News
Archdiocese balancing containment, compassion during coronavirus
Thousands depend on Catholic Social Services each day for food, housing and other vital supports. Agency workers are keeping the mission going amid scenarios "that change by the hour."
Archdiocese closes schools, PREP to prevent coronavirus
Students and teachers will move to online learning through March 27, as task force members meet "daily, if not hourly" to respond to the pandemic.
It’s quiet time for New Rochelle, N.Y., parish at containment area
The parish in the one-mile area with the highest concentration of COVID-19 cases in the country is still open for Masses with no music and little preaching. Attendance was down 60% last week.
Public won’t be admitted to papal Holy Week liturgies
Although Italy will ban public gatherings including Mass until April 3, the Vatican said liturgies beginning with Palm Sunday on April 5 "will take place without the physical presence of the faithful."
Archbishop Perez to offer livestreamed Mass for those affected by coronavirus
The March 15 liturgy at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul will be the first of regular Sunday Masses to be broadcast online, as faithful heed directives to avoid crowds.
Churches cancel Masses in effort to stem pandemic
UPDATED -- In an effort to stem the coronavirus, bishops' conferences and dioceses in the U.S. and around the world began suspending public Masses. More than 153,000 cases worldwide have led to some 5,700 deaths.
Catholic leaders call for prayers, policies for coronavirus response
A key U.S. bishop on domestic issues and a religious sister encouraged federal lawmakers to consider "with urgency a number of policies that could provide aid and relief" for those affected by COVID-19.
Deacon-physician says everyone can help limit spread of virus
Dr. Timothy P. Flanigan, a physician specializing in infectious diseases, offers advice in a Q & A interview on how to minimize transmission of the coronavirus.
Nightly online rosary set to ‘push back’ against coronavirus
From March 13 to 24, the archdiocesan Office for the New Evangelization will lead an 8 p.m. rosary -- online and by phone -- for an end to the pandemic.
On virus concerns, Catholics excused from Sunday Mass
Faithful in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania not wishing to attend Sunday Mass for fear of spreading or contracting the coronavirus are no longer obligated to do so, until further notice.