As the number of COVID-19 cases rises dramatically in the U.S., Canada and around the world, government officials almost universally have returned to stricter lockdowns, with U.S. officials even urging families to reconsider how many people to host on Thanksgiving dinner or
An analysis conducted by the staff of Catholic Extension found that dioceses it supports financially have the nation's most -- and least -- severe COVID-19 infection rates. The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, heads all U.S. Latin-rite diocese with an infection rate of
The Church is slowly reopening in major American cities after several weeks of diocesan officials working with public health experts to monitor coronavirus case trends and devise protocols they hope will keep people safe when they return to Mass. But even while
After nearly two months without public Masses because of the coronavirus pandemic, dioceses — mostly in the South and Midwest — have begun allowing pastors to celebrate Masses for the faithful again. All of the bishops who have restarted public Masses in
With Sunday Mass offertory collections virtually nonexistent during the coronavirus pandemic, dioceses are helping their parishes tap into revenue sources to help keep one crisis from becoming a second crisis. One such revenue source is the Paycheck Protection Program loans from the
As governments ease their recommendations, dioceses, too, are loosening in various ways the tight restrictions adopted earlier this spring to help flatten the curve. Church leaders are having constant conversations about what such a loosening means for public gatherings, availability of the
The federal small-business loan program created in response to the coronavirus pandemic has allowed the Diocese of Nashville, Tennessee, to keep all of its part-time employees on board. For that, school superintendent Rebecca Hammel is grateful. She told Catholic News Service that
Bishop Mark E. Brennan of Wheeling-Charleston told Catholics in the statewide diocese he was working to have his predecessor "make amends for harm he caused during his tenure" as mandated by Pope Francis. The announcement regarding retired Bishop Michael J. Bransfield came
Three new dioceses have been carved out of the Archdiocese of Mexico, a move Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes of Mexico City said will bring pastors "closer to all the inhabitants." The decision, announced Sept. 27, creates the dioceses of Azcapotzalco in northwest
As Catholics in the U.S., it’s impossible to ignore the statistics. For decades, participation in the Church has been shrinking. More U.S. Catholics have fallen away: In a 2018 survey from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University,