India’s Latin-Rite bishops organize National Prayer Service against pandemic

India’s Latin-Rite Catholic bishops are asking Catholics across the nation to join in the National Prayer Service they are organizing on 7 August. The purpose is to pray and express solidarity with those who have been affected in many ways by the Covid-19 pandemic. The office-bearers of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (ccbi), the organization that brings together the country’s 132 Latin-rite dioceses, took the decision during their virtual meeting on Friday, 9 July. “We are all going through a very difficult time and many of us are facing seriously challenging situations on account of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic,” the ccbi wrote in a circular dated 10 July. “Those who lost their dear ones to the virus had to resign themselves to having a dismal funeral rite accorded to their beloved. Many are still in the hospitals, ...