Our enforced retreat from the world can be an opportunity to grow closer to God and more prayerful. People were greatly edified by recent images of Pope Francis’ pilgrimage on foot through the empty streets of Rome to the image of Our Lady of Health. Let’s join him, then, in prayer and fasting for those who have died or are suffering from COVID-19, those at risk or anxious, those treating the sick or seeking a cure, as well as those who are leading us. The power of prayer, married with the wisdom of health experts, will ease and hopefully eliminate this disease.

Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP, Pastoral Letter to the Pastors and People of the Archdiocese of Sydney in a Time of Pandemic 18 March 2020