Church

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As countries continue to reel from the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis offered prayers for the men and women who have been unable to work.

"In these days, many people have lost their jobs, were not rehired or work off the books. Let us pray for these brothers and sisters of ours who are suffering from this lack of work," the pope said May 11 at the start of his Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae.

MANILA - After nearly two months in lockdown, calls are mounting for the government to allow church services while keeping all the necessary precautions.

Bishop Broderick Pabillo, the apostolic administrator of Manila, said that “religious services are also essential services” during this time of coronavirus pandemic.

“So when the decision makers consider the essential services to be allowed, they should also consider the opening of the churches and its services as important,” Pabillo said.

Pope Francis on Friday has elevated Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle to the order of “cardinal bishops,” the highest rank within the College of Cardinals.

Tagle and Cardinal Beniamino Stella are the newest members of the group, joining the ranks of 12 others who are mostly from the Latin rite and three cardinal patriarchs from the Oriental Churches.

The College of Cardinals has three ranks: cardinal deacons, cardinal priests, and cardinal bishops.

MANILA - The Philippines, through its archdioceses and dioceses, will be consecrated to the care of the Blessed Mother amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The bishops are expected to lead the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in their respective cathedrals on May 13, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima.

The National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Valenzuela City has earlier invited the bishops to celebrate the feast “in a special way”.

The hunger for the sacraments has become more pressing among the Catholic faithful during the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The suspension of public religious celebrations, however, did not prevent a Catholic priest in the central Philippine province of Leyte from caring for his flock.

Father Amadeo Corpuz Alvero of the St. Isidore the Worker parish knocks on the doors of the faithful to offer the sacrament of reconciliation and communion.

The many people’s “heroic service and sacrifice” are concrete signs of the Easter spirit in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, Catholic bishops said.

In his Easter message, Archbishop Romulo Valles, president of the bishops’ conference, particularly honored medical workers tending to patients while risking their lives.

“Together, seeing the countless acts of sacrifice and service, acts of kindness and compassion, we begin to see that the spirit of Easter is still very much alive in our hearts,” Valles said.

VATICAN— Pope Francis recalled the priests who have lost their lives during the coronavirus crisis as he offered the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in a nearly empty St. Peter’s Basilica.

“I cannot allow this Mass to pass by without mentioning the priests,” Pope Francis said in his homily on April 9.

“Today all of you brother priests, you are with me on the altar,” the pope said on Holy Thursday.

Pope Francis explained that he wanted to be close to all the world’s priests at this time, recalling clergy who have recently died of COVID-19.

Instead of ‘binge-watching’ Netlfix or television, a bishop urged Catholics to use their time at home to reconnect with God.

Bishop Ruperto Santos of Balanga said the faithful should take the quarantine period as an opportunity to know God more deeply by reading the Bible.

He said the people, especially the youth, should also lessen their time on Netflix by reading other spiritual books.

“Having too much free time these days will enable us to give so much time to God…instead of binge-watching your favorite shows on television or Netflix,” he said.

As he echoed the call for “physical distancing” to slow the spread of coronavirus, a Vatican official said the practice should not eliminate “community caring”.

Speaking during Mass for the Feast of the Annunciation on Wednesday, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle said that the pandemic calls for compassion.

“I know we need physical distancing and that is needed and we are appealing to everyone to observe it where possible,” Tagle said in his homily at the Pontificio Collegio Filippino in Rome.

In solidarity with Pope Francis’ call for a worldwide prayer of the “Our Father” on March 25 to combat the coronavirus pandemic, the Tuguegarao archdiocese has declared a “Rosary Day for Deliverance from CoVid-19”.

“Let us join the call of Pope Francis for all Christians to join the ecumenical praying of the ‘Our Father’, as a response to the CoVid-19 pandemic,” Archbishop Ricardo Baccay said.