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.
By Lisa Zengarini
In their Pastoral Message for Advent, the Quebec Catholic Bishops have invited Catholics to continue “to show creativity” as they prepare to celebrate Christmas and the New Year in “unprecedented” ways this year and to consider the present ongoing health constraints as “an opportunity to live and grow in their faith”.
“While we would like to have a good time with family and friends, out of prudence and to protect one another other, we must limit as much as possible these contacts”, Bishop Christian Rodembourg, president of the Assembly of Quebec Catholic Bishops, writes. However the Covid-19 restrictions must not be endured “passively”, he stresses.