On March 17, 2020, the B.C. government declared a public health emergency due to COVID-19. In this review of the past year, The B.C. Catholic takes a look at the effects of this pandemic on the local Church and its parishes, schools, hospitals, and people.


Spiritual health

There’s no question that pandemic restrictions over the past year have led to a significant decline in people participating in Mass and receiving the sacraments.

Since the Province of British Columbia declared a public health emergency March 17, 2020, the Archdiocese of Vancouver has faced exactly 26 weekends with limited Masses and 26 weekends with no Masses at all. Save for a priest, a camera, and perhaps a couple of volunteers, churches were empty on both Easter and Christmas.

The Spiritual Report, an annual survey by the Archdiocese of Vancouver’s Chancery office, reveals average Mass attendance in 2020 plummeted to 17,779 people in church on the weekends, a 78-per-cent decrease from 80,541 in 2019.

But the number of households registered at local parishes did not experience a drastic decrease, hovering around 71,600 in 2019 and 2020, suggesting that although few people could participate in Mass in person, many stayed connected with their parishes from a distance. (It is difficult to track how many people view Mass online weekly, as one “view” on a parish’s livestream Mass could represent a whole family. As well, some local parishioners have been watching livestreams originating outside the archdiocese).

Almost across the board, the number of people accessing the sacraments plummeted in 2020. Baptisms dropped to 2,000 from an average of 3,000 a year, while weddings dropped to 356 from about 600. The number of First Communions and confirmations also dropped, although those numbers were already in slow decline in recent years and may have more than a pandemic to blame.

The only religious ceremonies that did not decrease in 2020 were funeral Masses. The archdiocese saw 1,274 funerals in 2020, three more than in 2019, after several years of steady decline.

One priest and one deacon were ordained for the Archdiocese of Vancouver in 2020, while 10 men and women began discernment at seminary or with communities of Jesuits, Franciscans, or Benedictines last year, a sign of hope for vocations director Father Paul Goo.

It was unclear as we went to press when the ban on religious gatherings in B.C. would be lifted. Archbishop J. Michael asked officials to reconsider in time for Easter, and while his initial proposal was rejected, provincial health officer Bonnie Henry offered him participation in a process to find ways to have small indoor gatherings by Easter. She has hinted at easing restrictions and larger gatherings, while some religious communities have already been granted exemptions that allow them to have in-person gatherings.

Outdoor “drive-in” events are currently allowed if capped at 50 cars. Indoor weddings, funerals, and private prayer is allowed with a maximum of 10 participants.

Online viewership numbers make it hard to determine whether Catholics are growing tired of online-only events and experiencing “Zoom fatigue.” Some archdiocesan offerings (Catholic Faith in Plain English) have had a steady drop in the number of viewers, but other events (Into the Deep, Father Nick Meisl’s Gospel series) have seen viewership ebb and flow.

Online retreats are popular, with 744 people tuning in to reflect during Advent, while 689 signed up for Lent. The number of viewers watching the livestream ordinations of Father Richard Conlin and Deacon Raffaele Salvino each surpassed the number of seats at Holy Rosary Cathedral.

Ash Wednesday this year involved wearing masks and sprinkling ashes this year, a departure from local custom. (Agnieszka Ruck photo)


Physical health

At press time, B.C. had reported a total of 86,219 diagnosed cases of COVID in the last year. Of those, 1,327 people have died and 86,219 have recovered.

Canada has so far approved COVID-19 vaccines from four producers: Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, and most recently, Johnson & Johnson. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and some bioethicists have raised concerns with the latter two, saying those vaccines “utilized abortion-derived cell lines in their development, production, and confirmatory testing.” The CCCB urged Catholics to choose vaccines “least connected” to abortion, if given a choice.

Archbishop Miller has placed personal and financial support behind Eyam Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics, a Vancouver-based company that is expecting to have data back from animal trials of their COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the next few months.

From the start of the pandemic, the virus has been a particular threat to those aged 60 and up. According to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, 95.8 per cent of the total deaths of COVID-19 in B.C. were individuals 60 or older.

COVID-19 outbreaks have been declared 280 times in B.C. care facilities since January 2020 and have been associated with 929 deaths, or 71 per cent of all COVID-19 deaths in the province. All of those who died in these outbreaks were residents, not staff.

Catholic-run care homes and hospitals have not been immune to the virus. Holy Family Hospital experienced several outbreaks, the first resulting in the deaths of 21 people. Mount Saint Joseph Hospital, St. Paul’s Hospital, and Columbus Residence in Vancouver also declared outbreaks.

Columbus Homes president Mike Garisto said at press time there have been no outbreaks in any of his organization’s eight long-term care or independent living homes, which house 365 residents. His staff have noticed many are lonely, fearful, and eager to receive a vaccine.

B.C. Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie conducted a study that found before the pandemic 55 per cent of families were visiting long-term care and assisted living residents for at least an hour a few times a week, and many provided “essential care” like grooming or help to eat. When the pandemic hit and restrictions were introduced, most visits dropped to once a week or less and only up to 30 minutes at a time. Seventy per cent of visitors were not allowed to touch the person they had come to visit.

In late June 2020, visitor policies in long-term care and assisted living were changed to allow one designated “social visitor” for each resident. (Previously, the policy only allowed essential visits). Mackenzie’s survey found 61 per cent of visitors seeing a loved one for the first time after the policy changed found them in a worse condition: 46 per cent reported decreased physical functioning, 58 per cent showed lower cognitive function, and another 58 per cent had worsened mood or emotional well-being.

This led Mackenzie to recommend formal recognition of essential care provided by family members and allowing social visitors in addition to essential care workers in long-term care and assisted living.

A person looks up at a lit chapel from the street outside St. Patrick’s Vancouver. (Sheena Devota photo)


Mental health

The pandemic and restrictions are taking a toll on Canadians’ mental health. In a survey during the “second wave” of the pandemic last year, the Canadian Mental Health Association found 40 per cent of respondents experienced deteriorating mental health and 10 per cent had suicidal thoughts or feelings.

Catholic counsellors are reporting the last year has been especially hard on people who were already “hobbling” in their mental wellbeing, such as those with tendencies toward anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, addiction, and other challenges. The grieving process has also been seriously impacted, as COVID-19 restrictions have prevented people from attending funerals or meeting face to face with loved ones.

There are limited resources for local Catholics seeking help. Among them is Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries, which in January launched a course for Catholics consisting of a series of documentary-style videos with personal testimonies and interviews with experts discussing mental illness, self-care, grief, and companionship.

The timing was providential: filming for the series began in February 2019, before the pandemic began. By the end of 2020, the organization’s website had seen a 650 per cent jump in users. 

Another mental health resource is a listing of registered professional Catholic and Christian counsellors at rcav.org/personal-counselling.


A group of young people pray the rosary with Father Paul Goo over Zoom.


Intellectual health

At press time Catholic schools had so far pulled through without any COVID-19 outbreaks. Health authorities distinguish between an outbreak (transmission of the virus in a school setting) and an exposure (when someone with a positive case was present in the school while infectious).

When it comes to exposures, Catholic schools have seen their share. Most recently, exposures were reported at Archbishop Carney Regional Secondary, Holy Cross Elementary, Notre Dame Regional Secondary, Queen of All Saints, St. John Brebeuf, St. Michael’s Elementary, and St. Patrick’s Elementary. This has led to temporary closures and students moving to online learning.

According to Vancouver Coastal Health, in “the vast majority of cases” COVID-19 is not transmitting in school settings, but in households.

While navigating changing COVID-19 protocols and exposure notifications, schools have taken a hit in enrolment. The number of students attending CISVA schools dropped by about 2,200 students from 2018/19 to 2019/20. It dipped a few hundred students again in 2020/21 to 13,675.

According to Catholic Independent Schools of the Vancouver Archdiocese (CISVA), major factors were increased interest in distance learning and homeschooling as well as a drop in the number of international students.

Educators faced a steep learning curve in offering classes online from April to June and in navigating complex and changing rules about physical distancing, mask-wearing, and student cohorts. The loss of routine and social connections, plus confusion over technology, posed significant challenges for many, particularly for students with special needs.


A teacher from Corpus Christi school created this sign to encourage her students. (Contributed photo)

Distance learning skyrocketed in B.C. during the pandemic. The waiting list at Traditional Learning Academy Online shot up by more than 500 students, forcing the school to close its admissions portal in August. Other distributed learning schools were in a similar boat, with almost all of them closing admissions at some point, said TLA Online principal Gabe Linder. The huge jump in at-home learning came despite the B.C. government cutting 21 per cent of funding for independent online schooling.

Interest in homeschooling also increased, with total registrations through brick-and-mortar schools in B.C. leaping to 3,055 in 2020/21 from 758 in the 2019/20 school year. 

“We realize that many families will return to their former schools when the pandemic passes, but we are blessed and honoured to serve and help families feel safe, secure, and continue to get a solid, personalized education, albeit in a different mode,” said Linder.

Although elementary and high school students returned to classrooms last September, post-secondary and graduate students have not. St. Mark’s and Corpus Christi Colleges report all classes have been running online since last March and that students are experiencing email fatigue and loneliness.

Communications director Christina Dumont said the schools now offer emotional, spiritual, and mental support alongside academic pursuits. Students received handwritten cards and goodies in the mail at Christmas and have been invited to virtual events including live cooking classes, weekly games nights, and coffee houses.

In terms of enrolment, it’s been bumpy. Corpus Christi College’s undergraduate programs have experienced a drop in international student enrolment, but an increase in domestic students. The graduate programs at St. Mark’s saw a 40-per-cent increase in enrolment in 2020/21, a surprising development that Dumont expects relates to the ease of accessing online courses.

Meanwhile, graduation ceremonies for students at every level looked very different in 2020, from virtual ceremonies to distanced ones to none at all.

Although some schools are making plans for more traditional grads this year, everything hinges on how the province manages the pandemic in the coming weeks and months. 

Share your thoughts about the past year of the pandemic by writing to us at [email protected].


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