COVID-19 pandemic

Now, more than a year and a half into the pandemic, they are continuing this outreach while also taking a close look at how they can respond better to the vast needs the current public health crisis has exposed.

In an Aug. 12 trip to McAllen and Brownsville in Texas, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas conceded that an “unprecedented” situation is taking place at the border, calling it “one of the toughest challenges we face.”

A series of debilitating crises in recent weeks — from a surge in COVID-19 cases to the assassination of a president — has left Haiti reeling again in uncertainty and forced Catholic Relief Services to curtail its outreach efforts.

A former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican said unrest in Cuba — something the world has seen before — is translating into a recipe for disaster this year due to added pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Debt relief for poor countries is only way for G7 leaders to succeed in their plans to promote global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and address the climate crisis, Caritas Internationalis said.

“Your observance of physical-distancing and mask-wearing requirements in this diocese prevented more people from becoming ill and saved lives.”

Imploring Catholics of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to return to the celebration of Mass in person, Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez launched a major initiative for that purpose on Pentecost Sunday, May 23.

Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory led a recitation of rosary at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington as part of a worldwide prayer effort to end the COVID-19 pandemic.