Catholics around the world are today following the call by Pope Francis to pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic.
Bishop of Nottingham Patrick McKinney made a special plea for Catholics in England and Wales to pray today "in solidarity with all people of faith for an end to the coronavirus pandemic."
Bishop McKinney, the Bishops’ Conference lead for dialogue with other faiths, said: “Please join me in prayer, in a little fasting, and in an act of charity as we pray in solidarity with people of faith all over the world for an end to the coronavirus pandemic.”
The call for a day of prayer came from the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity which was established last year during Pope Francis’ Apostolic Visit to the United Arab Emirates, as a response to a document signed by Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in February, 2019.
As part of its mission the committee meets with religious and other world leaders in order “to support and spread the values of mutual respect and peaceful co-existence."
A spokesman for the committee said: “We should not forget to seek refuge in God as we face such a severe crisis” and called on God “to inspire scientists to find a cure that can turn back this disease, and to save the whole world from the health, economic and human repercussions of this serious pandemic.”
Pope Francis, in his homily at his Santa Marta Mass this morning, said: "We are all brothers. St. Francis of Assisi said: 'All brothers.' And for this, men and women of all religious denominations, today, we join in prayer and penance, to ask for the grace of healing from this pandemic."
He continued: "We did not wait for this pandemic, it came without us expecting it, but now it is there. And many people die. Many people die alone and many people die without being able to do anything. Many times the thought can come: 'I don't care, thank God I saved myself.'
"But think of others. Think about the tragedy and also about the economic consequences, the consequences on education, the consequences. What will happen next. And for this reason today, everyone, brothers and sisters, of any religious denomination, pray to God."
He said the different faiths "are are not praying against each other, this religious tradition against this, no. We are all united as human beings, like brothers , praying to God, according to one's culture, according to one's own tradition, according to one's beliefs, but brothers and praying to God, this is the important thing."
He also referenced other tragedies: "In the first four months of this year, 3.7 million people died of hunger. There is the hunger pandemic. In four months, almost 4 million people.
"This prayer today, to ask that the Lord stop this pandemic, must make us think of the other pandemics in the world. There are many. The pandemic of wars, hunger and many others. But the important thing is that today, together and thanks to the courage that this High Committee for Human Brotherhood has had, together, we have been invited to pray each one according to his own tradition and to make a day of penance, fasting and also of charity, of help to others."
As every day, the service was livestreamed and Pope Francis made special mention of "Sir Tommaso", the sound engineer from the Dicastery for Communication who has been doing the broadcasts retires today.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and Church of Ireland Archbishop Michael Jackson will be among Dublin Faith leaders who gather on line today at noon today for the special prayer, along with Adrian Cristea of the Dublin City Interfaith Forum and representatives from the Bahá'í, Zen Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Jewish communities.
The service will start at 12.00 noon and will be streamed live on Dublin City Interfaith Forum's Facebook page.
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