WASHINGTON, D.C. — The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is, by most accounts, leading the United States toward a financial crisis.

According to Bloomberg, the global pandemic has caused the biggest decline in consumer confidence in the US economy since October 2008. The S&P 500 economic index sits at its lowest level since 2017, unemployment is rising, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is tumbling.

How might the market downturn affect how much US Catholics give to their parish and other Catholic causes?

Updated March 20 at 11:46 a.m. Eastern.

Prayer

Showing and receiving God’s mercy are central aspects of Christian life – and everyone is in debt to God for the mercy he has already been shown, Pope Francis said during his general audience address Wednesday.

“Mercy is not one dimension among others, it is the center of Christian life: there is no Christianity without mercy,” he said March 18.

“If all our Christianity does not lead us to mercy, we have taken the wrong path,” he underlined, “because mercy is the only true goal of every spiritual journey. It is one of the most beautiful fruits of charity.”

The pontifical science academies issued a health statement Friday encouraging world leaders to make adjustments to short- and long-term responses to the coronavirus.

The statement was released March 20 by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. It was contributed to by nearly 20 international science leaders appointed by Pope Francis.

The leaders expressed gratitude for the “tremendous services” provided by medical professionals amid the coronavirus pandemic, but stressed that challenges and ramifications remain.

Pope Francis spoke Friday about the importance of returning to God, the loving Father, in the sacrament of reconciliation.

“But think of this: to return to God is to return to the embrace, the embrace of a father,” the pope said March 20.

“He is capable of transforming us, he is capable of changing the heart, but he wants to give us the first step: to return,” he said. “It is not going to God, no: it is returning home.”

The policy of social distancing means that the newly-homebound are seeing less of coworkers than they did just weeks ago. They’re seeing fewer friends too. But they might be seeing a lot more of their family, or their roommates. And that isn't easy.

For some, especially those who live alone, social distancing can bring with it a sense of isolation and loneliness. But for those who live with family or roommates, staying home means spending a lot of time together. After a few days of fun, being “alone together,” all the time, can become difficult.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, Pope Francis suspended Thursday non-urgent trials in the Vatican City State’s judicial system until after April 3.

The suspension was made at the request of the sostituto of the Secretariat of State, Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, in a meeting with Pope Francis, according to a note from Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

As much of the world faces quarantines, social distancing, and “shelter in place” orders amid the coronavirus pandemic, Catholics have faced unexpected challenges in accessing - and offering - the sacraments of the Church.

Catholics in some places impacted by the pandemic have learned that the sacrament of confession - the remedy for sin and a conduit of God’s mercy - has become rather difficult to find.  

At least ten priests have died in Italy after contracting COVID-19. More than half of them were from the Diocese of Bergamo, a town outside of Milan in Lombardy.

The bishop of Bergamo, the Italian diocese hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak, said Monday that the 20 priests in his diocese who have been hospitalized after contracting coronavirus have shown considerable improvement and six others have died.

Italian dioceses surrounding Milan have reported the deaths of 30 priests during the coronavirus outbreak.

Avvenire, the Italian newspaper owned by the Italian bishops conference, attributes at least 28 of these priests’ deaths to COVID-19, and also notes two additional cases: that of Fr. Guido Mortari, who died of pneumonia before he could get tested, and Fr. Giorgio Bosini, who had a serious underlying medical condition.

The Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary has granted a plenary indulgence for people with COVID-19 and for those who care for them, including medical staff and family members, and for those who pray for them.

Announced Friday, a plenary indulgence is granted to Catholics who, infected with the coronavirus and quarantined at home or the hospital by order of health officials, participate spiritually in a devotion such as the rosary or the Way of the Cross.

Spain is among the countries hardest hit by the global coronavirus pandemic; as of Thursday afternoon, more than 18,000 Spaniards have contracted the disease, and more than 800 have died.

Fr. Gaetan Kabasha, a native of Rwanda and a chaplain at Madrid’s San Carlos Hospital Clinic, describes his recent days there as very intense.