by Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Oct 29, 2020 / 01:00 pm MT (CNA).- After nine weeks of public general audiences, Pope Francis’ weekly gathering will again take place behind closed doors, the Vatican said Thursday. The decision to move back to a livestream-only format was made after at least one …

CNA Staff, Oct 26, 2020 / 07:01 pm MT (CNA).- Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso has called for prayer and a small capacity of attendees at Mass, as a coronavirus case surge in the area has overwhelmed local hospitals. “Our entire community ought to be very concerned about the …

by Jonah McKeown Denver Newsroom, Oct 23, 2020 / 04:37 pm MT (CNA).- The Archdiocese of Santa Fe is indefinitely suspending all public Masses after the weekend, citing rising COVID-19 cases in New Mexico and the approaching flu season. The archdiocese’s schools may remain open. In an Oct. 22 letter, …

by Eileen Connelly, OSU In describing her ministry to the Navajo people, Sister of the Blessed Sacrament Zoe Brenner simply says, “I’m just doing what God is calling me to do.” But there is much more to it for the Reading, Ohio, native who entered religious life in 1966. Her …

Vatican City, Oct 12, 2020 / 07:00 am MT (CNA).- The Vatican confirmed Monday that four Swiss Guards have tested positive for the coronavirus. Responding to journalists’ questions Oct. 12, Holy See press office director Matteo Bruni said that the four members of the world’s smallest but oldest standing army …

by Matt Hadro Washington D.C., Oct 8, 2020 / 02:19 pm MT (CNA).- Members of Congress are supporting a Washington, D.C., Baptist church in its court case against the city’s enforcement of its COVID restrictions on outdoor religious services. Capitol Hill Baptist Church, a congregation of 850 members, had filed …

CNA Staff, Oct 8, 2020 / 02:01 pm MT (CNA).- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Wednesday urged the Trump administration to resume negotiations for further COVID-19 financial relief, after President Trump reportedly ordered negotiations to cease Tuesday. The bishops on Oct. 7 urged reconsideration “in light of the …

CNA Staff, Oct 7, 2020 / 04:33 pm MT (CNA).- The Bishop of Brooklyn has strongly criticized the re-imposition of strict coronavirus rules on places of worship in New York City-area hot zones, saying Catholic churches have worked hard to prevent coronavirus spread and Catholics deserve access to their churches. …

CNA Staff, Oct 7, 2020 / 12:43 am MT (CNA).- While wearing physical masks may protect the lives of others during a pandemic, there is another type of mask – an invisible, spiritual mask – that hides us from our responsibility as a Christians, warned Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport. …

CNA Staff, Oct 6, 2020 / 04:32 pm MT (CNA).- Just two weeks after the dispensation from Sunday Mass attendance was lifted in the Diocese of Green Bay, Bishop David Ricken has reinstated it, due to sharply rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the area. “In the past few weeks …