Free Republic

One year after the first ecclesial lockdown came into effect in the Netherlands, “ordinary parish life is partly falling away” and the crisis is accelerating the already existing problem of secularization. This is the conclusion of a study by the Dutch Catholic weekly Katholiek Nieuwsblad, based on interviews with 21 priests from across the 7 Dutch dioceses. It is not just that the number of regular churchgoers is steadily declining: Several priests point out that it’s mainly those who already had a weak bond with the Church who stop attending at all, and the majority of priests know that the...

As COVID-19 infection rates have begun surging once again throughout much of the state, the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania has issued a statement suspending in-person church services until next year. The statement, issued by Bishop Audrey Scanlan on Nov. 14, stated that COVID-19 infection rates “are as high- and higher- now than ever and they show no sign of decreasing. Pennsylvania’s rates of infection are now four times what they were from our summer’s lowest ebb, and two of the counties in our diocese are among the top ten counties for virus transmission in the Commonwealth.” 59 of Pennsylvania’s...