[NOTE: Canadian Catholic News update added Sept. 29, 2020]

By Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News

Saskatchewan’s five Catholic bishops gathered in Saskatoon during the online 2020 Plenary Assembly of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB).

Bishop Bryan Bayda of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon, Archbishop Donald Bolen of Regina, Archbishop Murray Chatlain of Keewatin Le-Pas (which includes territory in both Saskatchewan and Manitoba), Bishop Mark Hagemoen of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon, and Bishop Albert Thévenot of Prince Albert together attended the online “virtual assembly,” held Sept. 21- 25.

In addition to the online sessions, the Saskatchewan bishops met in-person to discuss provincial and local concerns and share updates, including the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The 2020 Plenary Assembly usually held as an in-person meeting of Canada’s Catholic bishops in Cornwall, ON, was transformed into a video conference in light of continuing health and safety restrictions in response to COVID-19.

The plenary timetable and agenda were streamlined to focus on the most essential ecclesial and administrative matters.

Archbishop Richard Gagnon of Winnipeg, CCCB President, presided over the daily online meetings welcoming some 80 bishops signing in from dioceses and eparchies across Canada.

Topics discussed during the week included national priorities for the upcoming year (2020-2021); responsible ministry; pastoral care of Indigenous peoples; an update on the organizational changes involving the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace, as well as recommendations from a joint CCCB-CCODP review of Development and Peace’s international partners; and various concerns regarding initiatives and proposals by the federal government.

In keeping with the practice of previous plenary assemblies, one day was set aside for the meetings of English sector and French sector bishops allowing for discussion on liturgical, catechetical and other pastoral matters which are closely tied to language and culture.

COVID-19 was also on the agenda, as the Catholic bishops discussed its impact, sharing updates and information about the challenges faced by the Church at this time.

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CCCB president says it will take time for Catholic Church to return to normal after COVID-19 pandemic

By Brian Dryden, Canadian Catholic News

[Ottawa – CCN]  – The COVID-19 pandemic may have forced the Catholic Church in Canada to significantly change the way it operates, but the far-ranging impact of the global health crisis has reinforced and strengthened the Church’s commitment to its mission, the head of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) said after the first-ever virtual CCCB Plenary Assembly wrapped up after five days on Sept. 25.

In a post-assembly interview, CCCB President Archbishop Richard Gagnon of Winnipeg described how the Church’s adjustment to the realities of the pandemic has been difficult for parishioners and clergy, but has also shown how important a personal connection with God and the Church is in the lives of many Canadians.

“We don’t know what the next year will be like, but we do know that there is a need for the connection that the Church can bring,” said Archbishop Gagnon.

“It is undeniable that our lives and vocation as bishops have undergone strain and stress, difficulties and hardships, to different degrees,” Gagnon told his fellow leaders of the Catholic Church in Canada when the CCCB held its annual Plenary Assembly as an online gathering during the week of Sept. 21-25.

“Numerous members of our communities and many others as well have suffered greatly at this time. We think of them, pray for them and reach out to them,” he said.

While the need to go online for the annual gathering of Canada’s bishops meant that traditional aspects of the meeting had to be dropped from the agenda in 2020, Gagnon said that he believes the online Plenary Assembly was a success.

“There were some difficulties doing it online at first as we adjusted to meeting by computer – and there wasn’t the social aspect to the plenary that there has been in the past – but it did allow us to really understand and talk about what our mission is and how important the Church is to Canadians by the way we, as clergy, and our parishes and parishioners have worked together to adapt to the situation,” he said.

“There is no doubt that COVID and the public health situation has created challenges for the Church,” Gagnon said in a phone interview from his diocese in Winnipeg.

“There is obviously a financial impact on our churches because of the impact on Sunday collections, and there has been an impact on the morale of our clergy,” Gagnon said.
He said that issue of morale has to be monitored.

While some of the restrictions on church attendance that closed all Catholic churches and other places of worship across the country earlier in the pandemic were eased in the past few months, such measures may need to be re-established as a so-called “second wave” of the coronavirus sees the number of COVID-19 cases in the country spike in Canada’s largest provinces – Ontario, Quebec, B.C. and Alberta.

“(The clergy) can’t go out and do the outreach to their parishioners that they are used to doing. There has been an impact on the morale of our clergy because they have not been able to do what they have been called to do,” Gagnon said.

He said that lack of a one-on-one connection between clergy and parishioners has also been a burden for church parishioners who have told Gagnon and many of Canada’s other bishops that the inability to interact with their clergy at the parish level has been a difficult adjustment to make, even if the Church has been using technology as much as possible to keep the connection between the Church and Canada’s Catholics strong.

“I am sure it is the same for many of the other faiths, but there is going to be an adjustment period and it is going to be a long time before all of our churches are back to normal,” Gagnon said. “It is not going to be like the flip of a switch and then everything is back to normal.

“We will have to overcome a malaise that may happen about going to church since many haven’t been able to do so for a long time,” Gagnon said.

“There may also be the fear of getting together in large crowds that may last for a while depending on how the public health situation is,” he said of how the Church will have to continue to adjust to what for now is the new reality.

“There is no way to know what the situation will be like a year from now, will here be a vaccine, will there still need to be restrictions and limits on social gatherings and places of worship?” Gagnon said. “We just don’t know.”

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