About 30 families at Sagrado Corazon have had members infected by the virus, Father David Ramirez said. There also have been families at St. Luke Church in Smyrna and St. John Vianney Church in Gallatin that have been directly affected by the virus.

Although more than 100 firefighters contained the blaze within two hours and stopped it from spreading to the main body of the church, a 17th-century choir organ at the west end of the building was destroyed with much of the choir area and multiple stained-glass windows.

The Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy issued a new instruction on pastoral care that specifies the role of lay men and women in the church's mission of evangelization and offers guidance in parish reforms and restructuring.

Archbishop Michael Neary of Tuam has said it was a “priority” for him to re-inter the babies' bodies in consecrated ground.