Among the emergency provisions are increases to family benefits, a six-month interest-free pause on student loans and a biweekly payment of $900 for sick or laid-off workers without employment insurance or sick leave.

In London, Cardinal Vincent Nichols has asked the faithful to “dig deep into our traditions and our resources to make sure that our prayer maintains a eucharistic heart and a eucharistic center,” citing a tradition, little engaged in recent times, of “spiritual communion.”

Cyrus Habib is interrupting what had been a rapid political ascent to join the Catholic Church’s largest religious order.

Conditions at overcrowded refugee camps in Greece have become desperate, and Turkey has revived threats to renege on an agreement with the European community and to open its border allowing refugees through to Europe.

Many hope the church will repeat that activist role as political divisions depress the economy and the living conditions for average Zimbabweans, and as a severe drought threatens a hunger crisis for millions this year.

The accelerated reduction in the size of the Catholic flock in Argentina confirmed an overall Latin American trend: Between 2008 and 2019, the proportion of Catholics in Argentina dropped from 77 percent to 63 percent.