OTTAWA—The COVID-19 pandemic may have forced the Catholic Church in Canada to significantly change the way it operates, but the far-ranging impact of the global health crisis has reinforced and strengthened the Church’s commitment to its mission, said the head of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops after a first-ever virtual Plenary Assembly wrapped up Sept. 25.
CCCB president Archbishop Richard Gagnon told Canadian Catholic News adjusting to the realities of the pandemic has been difficult for parishioners and clergy, but it has shown how important a personal connection with God and the Church is in the lives of many Canadians.
“We don’t know what the next year will be like, but we do know that there is a need for the connection that the Church can bring,” said Archbishop Gagnon.
“It is undeniable that our lives and vocation as bishops have undergone strain and stress, difficulties and hardships, to different degrees,” Archbishop Gagnon told fellow Catholic leaders during the five-day online Plenary Assembly.
“Numerous members of our communities and many others as well have suffered greatly at this time. We think of them, pray for them and reach out to them.”
And while the need to go online for the annual gathering of Canada’s bishops meant that traditional aspects of the meeting had to be dropped from the meeting’s agenda in 2020, Archbishop Gagnon believes the meeting was a success and will pay dividends in parishes across the country in the year ahead.
“There were some difficulties doing it online at first as we adjusted to meeting by computer and there wasn’t the social aspect to the plenary that there has been in the past, but it did allow us to really understand and talk about what our mission is and how important the Church is to Canadians by the way we, as clergy, and our parishes and parishioners have worked together to adapt to the situation.”
He said in a phone interview from Winnipeg there is “no doubt” that COVID-19 and the public health situation has created challenges for the Church.
“There is obviously a financial impact on our churches because of the impact on Sunday collections, and there has been an impact on the morale of our clergy,” Archbishop Gagnon said.
While some restrictions on church attendance earlier in the pandemic have been eased in the past few months, they may need to be re-established as a so-called “second wave” of the coronavirus sees the number of COVID-19 cases in the country spike in Canada’s largest provinces.
“(The clergy) can’t go out and do the outreach to their parishioners that they are used to doing. There has been an impact on the morale of our clergy because they have not been able to do what they have been called to do.”
He said the lack of a one-on-one connection has also been a burden for parishioners who have told Gagnon and many of Canada’s other bishops the inability to interact with clergy at the parish level has been difficult, even if the Church has been using technology as much as possible to keep the connection between Catholics strong.
“I am sure it is the same for many of the other faiths, but there is going to be an adjustment period and it is going to be a long time before all of our churches are back to normal,” Archbishop Gagnon said.
“There is no way to know what the situation will be like a year from now. Will there be a vaccine? Will there still need to be restrictions and limits on social gatherings and places of worship?”
“We just don’t know.”
Canadian Catholic News.
