‘Prayer in the Time of Coronavirus’: LA Parishioners Worship in Mostly Empty Pews

LOS ANGELES (RNS) — Catholics seeking standard Sunday services were met with something new this past weekend.

At the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, the mother church of LA’s Archdiocese, church bells tolled over deserted streets and an empty plaza on Sunday (March 15).

In lieu of the typical door greeter, visitors were met with health advisory signs and a stack of flyers titled, “Prayer in the Time of the Coronavirus.”

Inside the sanctuary, fewer than 100 people gathered in a space that can fit 3,000. Before the Mass began, an usher walked the aisles and whispered that the offertory bowl would not be passed around in an effort to avoid the spread of germs. In its place, a lonely basket sat in the center of the aisle for people who wished to drop their gifts.

After Mass began, the church’s pastor, the Rev. David Gallardo, wasted little time before addressing the unease.

“Health is on everyone’s minds during this pandemic,” he said, his voice echoing through the mostly empty church. “Health is important, but as Christians, we cannot forget that we are truly children of God destined for eternal life. This is why Jesus reminds us over and over again in the Gospels: Do not be afraid.”

But people are afraid.

News reports of the deadly virus have occupied the media for days on end. The WHO’s latest numbers declared 118,000 diagnoses across 114 countries and…