COVID-19’s impact on liturgical praxis has left us reeling! Significant liturgical decisions have left the liturgical ministry by all the baptised out in the cold and refocused the Mass as a clerical experience. John N. Collins addresses the issues of priest and presbyter and as a factor in clericalised worship decision in ‘“Is it just Read more
A pandemic being fought with a lockdown imposed on the whole population affects all areas of life. Organised religion normally involves congregations gathering, the word ‘church’ is based on the word ‘assembly’. The respiratory virus can spread with disastrous effects in a closely packed crowd and for very good reasons public gatherings were banned during Read more
While to a certain degree returning to “business as usual” will not likely happen, that does not mean the vast majority of humanity; those who hold most of the world’s wealth and power will not use every advantage at their deposal in trying to hold onto broken, corrupt, unjust systems – what St. Pope John Read more
The Catholic parishes in Palmerston North, comprising the Holy Spirit Cathedral, Palmerston North, Our Lady of Lourdes and Foxton intended to live-stream Sunday Mass from the Cathedral. Under the current law, up to 10 people are permitted to make up the church service. With such a limitation, it became abundantly clear that the parishes would Read more
Asia’s fortune hunters, career-focused students and professionals are set to abandon their dreams of life in the developed cities of the Western world as Europe and the United States struggle to ward off the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. Many admit that Asia’s honeymoon with the West has come to an end as Asian nations are predicted Read more
As churches reopen and parishioners begin returning to their church buildings there’s a familiarity, but the environment might feel different because of new social-distancing measures. For example, in Houston, a young adult woman who went to Sunday Mass the first weekend in May when her parish reopened for public Mass, said her initial excitement changed Read more
The number of refugees in the world may decline this year, but not for a good reason. Today, there are about 70 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, of whom 41 million are internally displaced in their own countries and 26 million are refugees, forced to flee their homelands. Refugees and displaced persons live under conditions Read more
Salman lives in the West Bank with her husband, Steve Sosebee—founder of a medical relief NGO called the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund—and two children, aged two and 13. Salman spoke to TIME about what the holy month of Ramadan has been like under lockdown in the Palestinian territories. We live in the Holy Land, in Read more
Many of us have heard about the dangers of choral singing, especially because of the Skagit Valley Chorale in Mount Vernon, Washington. The choir held a careful rehearsal in March, its members each standing six feet apart. Later, 45 of 60 attendees contracted the virus and two died. While there could be a host of Read more
Some states are beginning to lift COVID-19 restrictions, like releasing residents from stay-at-home orders, reopening retail and hospitality businesses with limited capacities, and even allowing elective surgeries. Research has shown that many people are struggling with feelings of isolation and loneliness. People are longing to get back to life as “normal” after weeks of physically Read more