(AP images/CNS photo)
The year began with Pope Francis slapping the hand of a pilgrim who grabbed him and would not let go as he tried to walk through St. Peter’s Square on New Year’s Eve. The human reaction of the pope is what passed as viral news, worthy of spirited debate, in early January. We had no idea what we were in for.
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America, as at pretty much every news outlet in the United States, the year 2020 was dominated by three huge, intersecting stories, each of them with repercussions for the church.
“A Coronavirus Prayer,” written by executive editor Kerry Weber and translated into five other languages, was America’s most popular content of the year. (CNS photo/Kham, Reuters)