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Photo courtesy Norma Ramirez
I have been called “illegal” most of my life. Coming to the United States without legal authorization somehow made me “illegal,” less than, and undeserving of basic human rights. To cope with it, I bought into the lie of merit: If I simply worked hard enough and did all the “right” things, I would become worthy. I always strived to be “good” — to not break any laws and to focus on school. But still — my worthiness never came.
A pastor wearing a protective mask is seen at The Green-Wood Cemetery during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, U.S., April 11, 2020. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
As of April 15, more than 101,000 people worldwide have died of the novel coronavirus. In the U.S., 42 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have issued orders for people to stay in their homes to slow the spread. But with at least 1.6 million infected globally, the mortality rate has forced an increasing number of people to confront a topic they tend to otherwise avoid: death.
Staying home for Easter, a cathedral converted to a hospital, defying despair, and more.
Pope Francis holds a palm branch as he leads the Palm Sunday mass in St. Peter's Basilica without public participation due to the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Vatican April 5, 2020. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS
The symbolic procession was only several meters long and a few potted olive trees were brought in.
Photo by Elevate on Unsplash
When Raleigh Mennonite Church decided to fast from food waste for Lent, they didn’t know that 14 days in, the World Health Organization (WHO) would declare COVID-19 a pandemic. At a time when a core group of members planned on salvaging still-edible food from the dumpsters outside of grocery stores, hoards of Americans emptied the supermarket shelves of essentials like milk and bread and boxed wine.
Pope Francis sits at St. Peter's Basilica during an extraordinary "Urbi et Orbi," normally given only at Christmas and Easter, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, at the Vatican, March 27, 2020. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/Pool
Catholics wrestle with COVID-19 recommendations given by pope and bishops.
Last rites via zoom, wartime metaphors, Portugal protects migrants, and more.
Migrants detained in an ICE detention facility in Basile, La. display signs related to COVID-19 in this combination of screenshots taken during a video conferencing call. Handout via REUTERS
Detention center COVID-19 outbreaks could quickly swamp local hospitals.
FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen outside of Rikers Island, where multiple cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, in Queens, New York City, March 22, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
While many adjust to a new normal of isolation during the coronavirus pandemic, others are sounding the alarm, warning of the vulnerability of those in America’s prisons and jails.
“If I’m not speaking for the least and the last — and a large group of those are incarcerated people — then who will speak for them?” Rev. Dr. Kelle Brown of Plymouth United Church of Christ in Seattle, told Sojourners. “My solidarity most certainly must be attached to those who are most vulnerable.”
People buy supplies in a local store after health authorities found a positive patient of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the nearby city of Metapan, in Texistepeque, El Salvador, March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas
Priests, doctors, and journalists there told Sojourners the Central American country of just 6 million people has had one of the most robust responses in the world to COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
A gospel choir performs at the 2020 gathering of the Christian Open Door Church in Mulhouse, France, Feb. 18, 2020 in this still image taking from a video. Christian Open Door Chuch/Handout via REUTERS.
The prayer meeting kicked off the biggest cluster of COVID-19 in France — one of northern Europe's hardest-hit countries — to date, local government said. Around 2,500 confirmed cases have been linked to it.
Image via REUTERS/Tom Brenner
Like grocery store workers and first responders, domestic workers occupy a space on the frontlines of the pandemic. While some care for the elderly and people with chronic illnesses in their homes, others face dwindling job prospects, with little savings to stock up on the groceries and cleaning supplies Americans have flocked to stores for.
Church in Kairos time, refusing to physically gather for worship, coping with anxiety in a pandemic, and more.
President Donald Trump talks arrives to participate in a Fox News "virtual town hall" event with members of the coronavirus task force in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, March 24, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
President Donald Trump pressed his case on Tuesday for a re-opening of the U.S. economy by mid-April despite a surge in coronavirus cases, downplaying the pandemic as he did in its early stages by comparing it to the seasonal flu.
Doctor holding N95 mask. Via Shutterstock.
A doctor in Indiana confronts a shortage of protective equipment.
Lessons from plagues, the younger Catholic Workers, and loving your neighbor according to kids.
Photo by Kamala Saraswathi on Unsplash
This younger crop of Catholic Workers is unquestionably interested in activism, but the issues they address are different from those of their predecessors.
Workers walk by the perimeter fence of what is officially known as a vocational skills education centre in Dabancheng in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China September 4, 2018. Image via REUTERS/Thomas Peter
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China released a report last week in conjunction with the bill’s unveiling, saying that Xinjiang authorities are “systematically forcing predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities, including Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and others, to engage in forced labor.”
Ed Gramlich, a housing policy adviser at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, said jurisdictions had to analyze impediments to fair housing choice in their communities, but these reports were often not well-written or “just sat on a shelf because the community didn’t even know they existed.”
Photo by William Daigneault on Unsplash
As pastors and church leaders determine how best to shepherd their congregations during this health crisis, Sojourners reached out to those who have experience for their best words of advice. Below, we’ve compiled their thoughts.