A man prepares for his AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at Ndirande Health Centre in Blantyre, Malawi on March 29. (AP Photo/Thoko Chikondi, File)
As lockdown restrictions and shuttered churches cut off typical parish revenue streams, Catholic priests in rural Africa have had to improvise, often resorting to unorthodox means to sustain themselves and their parish communities and churches.
Their counterparts in big cities have mostly manage to remain in touch with parishioners through social media and other online platforms that had been growing in popularity across Africa even before the pandemic. But the grinding poverty in many rural communities often means that parishioners cannot afford mobile phones or data plans.
2020 Year in Review
The pandemic led parishes to celebrate special liturgies, such as this Aug. 27 special Holy Hour at Saint Therese of the Child Jesus Parish to pray for the health and wellbeing of the people who work on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. As with all liturgies during this time, social distancing measures were observed.
By Marie Mischel
Intermountain Catholic
SALT LAKE CITY When the novel coronavirus struck Utah in March, Bishop Oscar A. Solis implemented emergency measures in the Diocese of Salt Lake City, issuing a dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass, suspending public worship in Catholic churches, canceling events such as the annual diocesan Lenten retreat, and instructing the Utah Catholic Schools to provide remote instruction rather than onsite.