VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The COVID-19 pandemic has caught entire communities and nations off guard, and the best way to tackle this global crisis is together as a global family, the Pontifical Academy for Life said.
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WALSINGHAM, England (CNS) -- English Catholics rededicated their country as Mary's Dowry "in the eye of the storm" of the coronavirus pandemic. Because of restrictions on movement and assembly to slow down the transmission of COVID-19, an estimated 530,000 people attempted to join the rededication by watching livestreaming services from parishes, churches and the National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham, Norfolk. The volume of traffic volume was so high by the rededication time of noon March 29 that it caused the website of the Walsingham shrine to crash, along with the livestreams in cathedrals and parishes provided by Churchservices.tv, a technology firm offering media platforms within churches.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Countries fighting the coronavirus pandemic could face deadly consequences if they focus on protecting their economies more than their own people, Pope Francis said. In a handwritten letter sent March 28 to Argentine Judge Roberto Andres Gallardo, president of the Pan-American Committee of Judges for Social Rights and Franciscan Doctrine, the pope said that some governments that have imposed lockdown measures "show the priority of their decisions: people first."
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ROME (CNS) -- While many churches in Italy remain open, visiting a church to pray is not a valid excuse for leaving one's home during Italy's COVID-19 lockdown, said a note from the Ministry for Internal Affairs.
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OXFORD, England (CNS) -- Catholic dioceses and religious orders across Europe are offering to turn church facilities into spaces needed for health care or housing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Church leaders throughout Europe have been struggling to maintain Catholic religious devotions during enforced national lockdowns against the coronavirus, but have also sought ways, in addition to regular aid from Caritas and other Catholic organizations, of making resources available for health and social services.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The worldwide coronavirus pandemic is not God's judgment on humanity, but God's call on people to judge what is most important to them and resolve to act accordingly from now on, Pope Francis said.
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ROME (CNS) -- When Father Mario Carminati went to bless the remains of one of his parishioners, he called the deceased man's daughter on WhatsApp so they could pray together. "One of his daughters is in Turin and couldn't take part," he said, the Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana reported March 26. "It was very emotional," as she was able to pray with them through the messaging service, said the parish priest from Seriate, near Bergamo.
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Church leaders around the world used the feast of the Annunciation March 25 to entrust their nations to Mary and Jesus. Catholic leaders from 24 states sought divine help in ending the COVID-19 pandemic by consecrating their countries to Jesus and Mary during a March 25 ceremony in Fatima, Portugal.
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BONN, Germany (CNS) -- She had become nearly forgotten. Little is known about the young woman who was killed for her Christian faith, presumably in the second century A.D. But now, a pandemic is shedding light on her: St. Corona.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Neither Pope Francis nor any of his closest collaborators have the COVID-19 virus, said Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office. In a note March 28, Bruni confirmed that a monsignor, who works in the Vatican Secretariat of State and lives in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where Pope Francis lives, did test positive for the coronavirus and, "as a precaution," was hospitalized.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis said he will grant a plenary indulgence to the faithful who watch or listen to his extraordinary blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world) at 6 p.m. Rome time March 27.
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Vatican City, Mar 25, 2020 CNA.- The miraculous crucifix at which Pope Francis prayed Sunday for an end to the coronavirus has been taken down from its altar and transported to St. Peter's Square, so it can be present on Friday during the pontiff's benediction "Urbi et Orbi."
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis offered his early morning Mass for vulnerable people and health care workers who live in fear that they or their loved ones may fall ill to the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world.
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QUEBEC CITY (CNS) -- As the Quebec government tightens measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and allows only essential services, the Catholic dioceses of the province have started temporary layoffs affecting hundreds of Catholic employees and priests.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican doctrinal office announced the optional use of seven eucharistic prefaces as well as the celebration of the feast days of recently canonized saints in the "extraordinary" form of the Mass.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican has asked Catholic bishops around the world, both in the Latin rite and the Eastern Catholic Churches, to provide their faithful with resources to support personal and family prayer during Holy Week and at Easter, especially where COVID-19 restrictions prevent them from going to church.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Doctors working in the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy have launched an appeal in a major medical journal warning the outbreak in their province is out of control. The medical and humanitarian emergency unfolding before their eyes has made it clear that the Western health care system of centralized hospital care cannot handle this and future epidemics and needs to shift toward more community-focused care.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Joined by Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant church leaders and faithful from around the world, Pope Francis led the recitation of the Lord's Prayer, imploring God's mercy on humanity amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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Vatican City, Mar 24, 2020 CNA.- The director of the Holy See's press office, Matteo Bruni, said Tuesday there are now a total of four people connected to Vatican City who have tested positive for the coronavirus.
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ROME (CNS) -- I was video chatting with my childhood friend yesterday. We haven't talked in almost a year and we were organizing a virtual happy hour with our high school friends. Why hadn't we thought about doing this before? I told my friend we had to organize this now because I have sage advice to give about my friends' futures.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- With the number of priests and religious dying from coronavirus-related illnesses rising, Pope Francis offered his prayers for those who died after being infected helping COVID-19 patients and their communities.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As more countries continue to take precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the term "lockdown," normally used to describe confining prisoners to their cells, has taken on a whole new meaning.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In life, El Salvador's St. Oscar Romero had an open line of communication with the church in the United States, whose leaders and laity often supported the archbishop of San Salvador when he objected to military aid or training of the country's government troops, paid for by U.S. taxpayer money.
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Rome, Italy, Mar 23, 2020 CNA.- In the past week alone, more than 3,000 people have died in Italy after contracting the coronavirus. Among the dead, there have been at least 60 priests this month, according to local sources.
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ROME (CNS) -- With more than half of its seminarians already back in the United States, the Pontifical North American College in Rome is sending its students home. "In consultation with our board of governors and the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, we have asked all students at our two campuses to return to their home dioceses in the United States," said a notice posted on the seminary's Facebook page March 23, the day after students were informed.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Citing the increasing loss of lives to COVID-19 and a lack of medical resources, an Iranian cleric has urged Pope Francis to do what he can to help get U.S. sanctions against Iran lifted.
Read moreROME (CNS) -- While most of the work at a religious order's general headquarters continues in lockdown, a group of Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit found an additional activity where they could use their hands, do something together and be useful.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As more and more countries start to feel the economic pinch due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis urged business leaders to seek solutions that will not hurt employees and their families.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis offered prayers for everyone, particularly families, facing financial difficulties because of the pandemic. "Let us pray today for people who are beginning to experience economic problems because they cannot work due to the pandemic, and all of this falls on the family," he said at the start of Mass March 23.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis said he will give an extraordinary blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world) at 6 p.m. Rome time March 27.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While conferences and meetings can be postponed for months because of the coronavirus pandemic, the liturgies of Holy Week and Easter cannot, with the exception of the chrism Mass, said the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As more countries continue to lockdown and isolate to stem the spread of the coronavirus, "we can only get out of this situation together as a whole humanity," Pope Francis said.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- People who cannot get to confession because of the coronavirus lockdown or another serious reason can go to God directly, be specific about their sins, request pardon and experience God's loving forgiveness, Pope Francis said.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In places particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic and with severe limits on people leaving their homes, conditions may exist to grant general absolution to the faithful without them personally confessing their sins first, the Vatican said.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the daily lives and routines of millions of people have been turned upside down, Pope Francis said, but they must help each other stay firm in faith.
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Bergamo, Italy, Mar 19, 2020 CNA.- Italian dioceses surrounding Milan have reported the deaths of 30 priests during the coronavirus outbreak. Avvenire, the Italian newspaper owned by the Italian bishops conference, attributes at least 28 of these priests’ deaths to COVID-19, and also notes two additional cases: that of Fr. Guido Mortari, who died of pneumonia before he could get tested, and Fr. Giorgio Bosini, who had a serious underlying medical condition.
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HONG KONG (CNS) -- A Catholic diocese in China's Shaanxi province has donated thousands of face masks to communities in the Vatican and Italy to help them fight the coronavirus. Ucanews.com reported Xi'an Diocese has donated 24,000 disposable medical masks to the Vatican and religious communities and dioceses in Italy such as Milan and Bologna.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- St. Joseph is the patron saint of retired Pope Benedict XVI -- Joseph Ratzinger -- but Pope Francis' devotion to the husband of Mary and guardian of Jesus is clear as well. In fact, at the beginning of his pontificate in 2013, Pope Francis confirmed a directive that Pope Benedict had made, but which had not gone into effect, to include the name of St. Joseph permanently in the eucharistic prayers used at most Masses in the Latin rite.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis began his early morning Mass praying for prisoners experiencing great uncertainty and worrying about their families who cannot visit them due to lockdown measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
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LIMA, Peru (CNS) -- Late March 15, Peru's president declared a state of emergency, ordered ordinary people like me to stay home, and announced that no one would be allowed to enter or leave the country.
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DUBLIN (CNS) -- With all St. Patrick's Day parades and events canceled due to restrictions aimed at containing the coronavirus pandemic, most bishops and priests celebrated Masses via webcam or parish radio.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The effects of the coronavirus can be defeated only with a combination of science and solidarity, said the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life. "An emergency like COVID-19 is fought especially with the antibodies of solidarity," said Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the academy.
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In an effort to stem the pandemic of COVID-19, bishops' conferences and dioceses around the world began suspending public Masses. The measures were designed to " flatten the curve," an effort to ease the burden on the health care system so treatment is available. In Italy, the health care system in some areas of the north was overwhelmed within three weeks.
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ROME (CNS) -- Public Masses are banned throughout Italy, but literally thousands of Masses are celebrated each day and, in addition to watching them on television or computer screens, the faithful can receive "spiritual Communion."
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ROME (CNS) -- A number of priests and religious women have been among the nearly 2,000 people who have died in Italy because of illness connected with COVID-19. One member of the Little Missionary Sisters of Charity died March 15 at the age of 88 after she and 23 members of her community in Tortona, near Milan, were evacuated by helicopter March 13 and hospitalized for fever and trouble breathing. Another unidentified nun was said to be in critical condition, ANSA, the Italian news agency, reported March 15.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Standing in the window of the library of the Apostolic Palace overlooking an empty St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis blessed the city of Rome still under lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
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ROME (CNS) -- With Italy on lockdown and Rome streets almost deserted, Pope Francis left the Vatican March 15 in a mini-pilgrimage to an icon and to a crucifix associated with miraculous interventions to save the city and its people.
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ROME (CNS) -- About half of the U.S. seminarians and priests living at the Pontifical North American College and the Casa Santa Maria in Rome have left the locked-down city, the rector said. At the NAC, the seminary on the Janiculum Hill overlooking the Vatican, 92 seminarians remained as of March 16, Father Peter C. Harman, the rector, told Catholic News Service. The enrollment this year was 192, he said.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican office that distributes free tickets to papal events has posted a notice on its website that "the liturgical celebrations of Holy Week will take place without the physical presence of the faithful."
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Vatican City, Mar 12, 2020 CNA.- Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Vatican City State offices and dicasteries of the Holy See will remain open and working, with additional precautions and the possibility to work from home in some cases, the Vatican said Thursday.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis asked people to pray for government officials and leaders who are tasked with making critical decisions and taking drastic measures that may make people unhappy. Each day at his livestreamed morning Mass, the pope has been dedicating each liturgy to people affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Read moreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As draconian restrictions, meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus, took effect across Italy, the Catholic Church was faced with an unprecedented dilemma: how to minister to a community of faithful effectively under quarantine and how to keep reaching out to those most in need without spreading contagion.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis entrusted to Jesus' mother the suffering and anguish of millions of people affected by the coronavirus pandemic. In a video message broadcast March 11, the pope prayed before a portrait of Our Lady of Divine Love, beseeching her to "not disdain the entreaties of we who are in trial" but to "deliver us from every danger."
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Here is a CNS translation of the prayer Pope Francis recited by video March 11 for a special Mass and act of prayer asking Mary to protect Italy and the world during of the coronavirus pandemic.
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MANCHESTER, England (CNS) -- Catholic churches across Europe are suspending the sign of peace during Mass in an attempt to halt the spread of coronavirus. Updated guidance issued by the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales recommended a range of new measures to prevent the transmission of the virus, similar to those already implemented in other countries. The English and Welsh bishops also advised parishes not to pass around collection plates or baskets, though they remain silent on how the faithful should contribute financially to the church during Mass on Sundays.
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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNS) -- Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith says he is ready to launch street protests if Sri Lanka's government does not find and arrest the culprits behind last year's Easter bombings. Ucanews.com reported the cardinal said the administration has not taken action regarding the suicide bombings that killed about 300 people, including 40 foreign nationals, and injured at least 500.
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Vatican City, Mar 10, 2020 CNA.- The Italian police closed St. Peter’s Square Tuesday following the Italian government decree extending quarantine measures to all of Italy to slow the spread of coronavirus.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Peruvian Cardinal Pedro Barreto Jimeno of Huancayo said he believes Sodalitium Christianae Vitae and any other religious movement mired in sexual abuse should be dissolved. In an interview with Peruvian radio station Radio Santa Rosa March 9, Cardinal Barreto said that while "there are good people in Sodalitium," the cases of sexual and physical abuse, as well as financial irregularities, cannot be ignored.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In cooperation with Italian emergency measures, the Vatican has closed St. Peter's Square and Basilica to tourists starting March 10 through April 3. The new measure, announced March 10, was the latest move by the Vatican to help stop the spread of the coronavirus by reducing access to places that attract large groups of people. On March 8, the Vatican closed the Vatican Museums, the necropolis and other museums connected with the Vatican.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis prayed that priests would find the courage to visit those who are sick and offer accompaniment to health care professionals and volunteers working during the coronavirus epidemic while also keeping themselves and others safe.
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MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- The Argentine bishops' conference expressed its opposition to the president's plans to present legislation legalizing abortion, saying the South American country had more pressing social concerns.
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DUBLIN (CNS) -- Dublin's iconic St. Patrick's Day parade has been canceled due to fears over the spread of coronavirus. Authorities had initially insisted that the festivities -- which mark St. Patrick bringing Christianity to Ireland in 432 -- would go ahead, but bowed to pressure from doctors March 9 and announced the cancellation.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican has instituted new measures and closures to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. In addition to urging employees to work from home if possible and providing family leave for workers with minors at home due to school closures, Pope Francis also was making some events -- normally held outdoors with large crowds -- closed to visitors, filmed indoors and broadcast online.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- During a live broadcast of his daily morning Mass, Pope Francis prayed for victims of the coronavirus epidemic and the many health care workers fighting its spread. The pope said he offered the Mass for those infected by the virus, also known as COVID-19, as well as "the doctors, the nurses, the volunteers who help so much, family members, the elderly in retirement homes and prisoners who are incarcerated."
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The suspension of public Masses in Italy is a painful yet necessary measure to protect people's health, the country's bishops said. "This is a very restrictive step, the acceptance of which causes suffering and difficulty for pastors, priests and the faithful," the Italian bishops' conference said in a statement March 8.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has decided the next world Synod of Bishops at the Vatican, which will take place in October 2022, will have the theme: "For a synodal church: Communion, participation and mission."
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Rome, Italy, Mar 8, 2020 CNA.- The Diocese of Rome has canceled all public Masses until April 3 in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The announcement by the vicar general of the diocese, published Sunday evening, follows a decree by the Italian government suspending all public religious ceremonies.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis did not recite the Sunday Angelus from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square March 8, but he did go to the window to wave and to bless the pilgrims who showed up anyway.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon, five weeks after a French appeals court overturned his conviction for failing to report clerical sexual abuse.
Read moreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican issued a correction saying Pope Francis had not authorized the establishment of an expanded and centralized human resources department, but that the new department was just a proposal and the pope still had to review it.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Friday Lenten meditation for priests who work at the Vatican turned into an online event March 6 as Vatican officials continued to study precautions for avoiding the spread of the coronavirus.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- At the heart of Pope Francis' teachings on reform, the care for the poor and for creation are the principles of discernment and listening established by St. Ignatius of Loyola, said Jesuit Father Arturo Sosa.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican health clinic was closed temporarily after a person tested positive for the coronavirus, the Vatican announced. In a statement released March 6, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said services were halted "in order to sanitize the area after a patient tested positive for COVID-19."
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Vatican City, Mar 4, 2020 CNA.- Rome’s pontifical universities will temporarily shut down tomorrow, after Italy’s death toll from Covid-19 surpassed 100 people March 4. Italian officials announced March 4 that all schools and universities in the country will be closed March 5-15 because of the country’s coronavirus outbreak.
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GENEVA (CNS) -- A United Nations report addressing gender-based violence and discrimination connected to religious beliefs "is now attacking the very reality it is called to defend," a Vatican representative told a U.N. meeting in Geneva.
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Catholic aid agencies are protecting their staff's safety as they increase their worldwide efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19. Catholic dioceses, too, are following protocols issued by their government health ministries.
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AMMAN, Jordan (CNS) -- Turkey and Greece are trading blame following the deaths of Syrian refugees trying to flee to Europe, but some observers believe Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is weaponizing the Syrian refugee humanitarian crisis.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has a common cold and has no symptoms that could be attributed to another illness, the Vatican said. Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, released a brief statement March 3 in response to reporters' questions, including about an Italian newspaper's unsourced claim the pope had been tested and tested negative for the coronavirus.
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MAINZ, Germany (CNS) -- Limburg Bishop Georg Batzing, 58, regarded as an advocate of reforms in the Catholic Church, was elected president of the German bishops' conference, succeeding Cardinal Reinhard Marx, 66.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- After receiving a request from Mexico's bishops for assistance in handling cases of the abuse of minors, the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is sending its top abuse investigator to Mexico.
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Saying he wanted to renew his "urgent call to respond to the ecological crisis," Pope Francis asked Catholics around the globe to participate in the international observance of "Laudato Si' Week" May 16-24.
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REYNOSA, Mexico (CNS) -- Father Ernesto Cardenal, the Nicaraguan poet and revolutionary whose political work earned him a public admonishment from St. John Paul II, died March 1 in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua. He was 95.
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MANCHESTER, England (CNS) -- Catholics are preparing for the historic rededication of England as "Mary's Dowry" in the hope that it will spur the re-evangelization of their country. The English bishops decided to rededicate the country at a meeting in November 2017 and are now encouraging Catholics to pray the Angelus daily ahead of the March 29 National Day of Rededication.
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Rome, Italy, Mar 1, 2020 CNA.- Several Catholic colleges and universities with study abroad programs in Italy have ended the semester early and are sending students back to the United States amid the coronavirus outbreak.
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Vatican City, Mar 1, 2020 CNA.- Pope Francis said Sunday to follow Christ’s example when dealing with the temptation to sin: send the devil away or answer with the Word of God, but never engage in debate.
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Vatican City, Mar 1, 2020 CNA.- Pope Francis said Sunday he will not take part in his annual Lenten retreat with the Roman Curia in Ariccia this week due to a cold he has had for several days. “I also ask you to remember in prayer the spiritual exercises of the Roman Curia, which will begin this evening in Ariccia,” the pope said March 1.
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Vatican City, Feb 29, 2020 CNA.- Pope Francis Saturday told the Legionaries of Christ religious order to look toward the future as they continue to reform themselves, seeking continuous conversion under the guidance of the Church.
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ROME (CNS) -- As the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus in Europe continued to grow, the French Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes announced that pilgrims were still welcome, but the pools the sick bathe in hoping for healing would be closed temporarily.
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