The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, has warned that the Irish Catholic Church is in danger of becoming a “middle-class church”.

With churches closed, broadcasting Mass on the internet has filled that void for some, but Dr Martin said: “A lot of people don’t have computers, especially lots of elderly people.

The Archbishop also expressed a lack of enthusiasm for suggestions the crisis would see people turn to religion. “They said in the last economic crisis that an economic crisis is good for religion. That is very superficial,” he said.

“There are people today who may have said a prayer and they haven’t said one for a long time, but that isn’t a long-term commitment that is going to bring people back to faith. Many believers may even be challenged by what is happening.”

He said he believes if people see the Church has reached out “to mirror the mercy of Jesus” during the pandemic and has given itself “totally in a situation like that”, it will be judged more on this than on webcam Masses.

However, he admitted he was particularly concerned about those who have lost loved ones during the crisis and have been forced by restrictions not just to scale back funerals but sometimes to have stayed away from the funerals.

“There are other ways in which we can show solidarity to those who are mourning. One of the things is just to keep in contact,” he said.

Pope Francis has called for an end to the aborting of innocent lives.

In a tweet sent out on Holy Saturday, he begun by issuing a plea for the end of all wars: “Let us silence the cries of death, no more wars! Since we need bread, not guns”. He continued with an appeal on behalf of the unborn and all innocent lives: “Let the abortion and killing of innocent lives end”. He concluded with a plea on behalf of the poor: “May the hearts of those who have enough be open to filling the empty hands of those who do not have the bare necessities”.

A 103-year-old Italian says ‘courage, faith’ helped her beat the coronavirus.

Ada Zanusso lives at the Maria Grazia Residence for the elderly in Lessona, a town in the northern region of Piedmont. Her family doctor of 35 years, Carla Furno Marchese, said he thought she wasn’t going to make it because she was always drowsy and not reacting.

“One day she opened her eyes again and resumed doing what she used to before,” Furno Marchese said.

When asked by an Associated Press reporter what helped her get through the illness? “Courage and strength, faith,” Zanusso said. It worked for her, so she advises others who fall ill to also “give yourself courage, have faith.”

Meanwhile, in the UK a prominent conservationist who chairs a global campaign to stop tropical deforestation, has recounted a vivid spiritual experience while he battled the coronavirus. Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, Hylton Murray-Philipson, 61, who had spent five days in intensive care, many of them on a ventilator, said that in the moment of his greatest distress and struggle whilst in intensive care, he had a powerful image of Jesus calming the storm on the sea of Galilee. “I would like to think that was Jesus Christ coming to me, and helping me in my hour of need,” he said.

The home of the Bishop of Raphoe was broken into in the early hours of Easter Sunday morning.

A large number of windows and doors had been smashed on the premises, it is alleged.

Gardaí arrived at the house after reports of a break-in just before 3am.

Inside the property, gardaí also allegedly found damage to the building and contents, including a number of religious statues.

The parochial house is adjacent to St Eunan’s Cathedral from where RTÉ has been broadcasting Mass during the coronavirus crisis.

A 24-year-old man was arrested at the scene by gardaí and was taken to Letterkenny garda station.

Nobody was injured in the break-in and it is not believed that anything was stolen.

Religious leaders from a number of faiths discussed the Covid-19 emergency with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on a conference call on Wednesday.

Mr Varadkar sought the views of religious leaders on how communities and the most vulnerable can be cared for.

They were also due to discuss the changes brought in to reflect current public health guidelines for funerals and burials, and the impact of this on families at this difficult time.

It is understood that Mr Varadkar thanked those in religious life for their contribution throughout the emergency so far, especially as some are prevented from doing all they would like because of age or health.

After the meeting the Taoiseach tweeted: “At times of trial, many of us turn to faith for meaning and for comfort. Was a real privilege to talk to religious and spiritual leaders today and thank them their contribution during this Emergency”.

The discussion was part of the Structured Dialogue initiated by the Taoiseach following the visit by Pope Francis in 2018.

It is designed to foster a new covenant for the 21st century between State and faith communities, recognising their place in society and the valuable contribution they make to communities.

The chief social officer for Northern Ireland has insisted that it would be wrong for any hospital or care home staff to put up “do not resuscitate” (DNR) notices for patients without consulting their families first.

Sean Holland made his comment at the Stormont health committee on Thursday after a number of politicians complained that some families were being pressurised to agree to no resuscitation stipulations for their loved ones in Northern Ireland hospitals and care homes.

DUP North Down MLA Alex Easton said on Thursday morning he received an email from the family of a woman at the Ulster Hospital in east Belfast who said a DNR notice was put against that patient even though she was “conscious and she was not told this was happening”.

Mr Easton said her family was not contacted about the DNR notice. He asked the chief social officer Mr Holland for assurance “that people’s lives are not being decided without consultation with their loved ones because if that is the case that it totally unacceptable”.

Sinn Féin Assembly member Martina Anderson who referred to accounts of such action happening at some care homes and said such reports were “deeply worrying, against clinical guidance and are simply unacceptable”.

The coronavirus pandemic had struck at the very heart of the ministry of priests, curtailing their normal outreach to the sick, the elderly and the dying, the Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, Eamon Martin, has said.

The Archbishop was speaking on Thursday morning at Holy Thursday Chrism Mass, commemorating the founding of the priesthood at the last supper, in the Cathedral of St Patrick and St Colman in Newry, Co Down.

“Perhaps saddest of all, it has cruelly restricted our capacity to draw close to families who are bereaved,” he said.

He also said it had “driven our congregations indoors, forced us to stay apart, prevented us from having the public celebration of Mass and hindered us from offering the healing sacraments of reconciliation and anointing in the normal manner.

Nonetheless, he said “Our calling as priests remains strong in this crisis: to be with our people, to encourage them, to bring them the hope and consolation”.

But he added that “there will be more sacrifices for our people and ourselves to make before this Covid-19 crisis is all over”.

Meanwhile, Easter liturgies will take place behind closed doors across Ireland due to the coronavirus restrictions.

In addition, many clergy are cocooning. The Dublin Catholic archdiocese has almost 200 priests unavailable as they are over 70 and cocooning. In Kildare and Leighlin, 58 priests are cocooning, with 47 in active ministry. In Killaloe diocese 44 of its 93 priests are in active ministry with 49 cocooned.

Women seeking an abortion during the coronavirus outbreak will not need to visit a GP in most cases, under guidelines issued by the Department of Health on Tuesday evening. The easing of restrictions are meant to apply only for the duration of the Covid-19 emergency.

Instead of face to face meetings with their GP, women seeking abortions will instead consult with their GPs on the phone or via video chat.

Responding to the new Department of Health guidelines, Pro Life Campaign spokesperson Eilís Mulroy said it is “utterly reckless” that Minister Simon Harris has approved these new guidelines. “When ushering in his new abortion law in 2018, he repeatedly gave assurances about how safe his new abortion law would be for women, citing the two visits that the pregnant woman would have to make to her GP before any abortion took place. But in the blink of an eye, the Minister has done a complete about turn in order to facilitate abortions taking place during the Covid-19 lockdown. Abortion is never safe for the baby as it directly ends his or her life, but now we have a situation where women’s lives are also being put at risk”.

The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, turned 75 on Wednesday and was expected to mark the day by offering his formal resignation to Pope Francis. According to the Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law, diocesan bishops are required to offer their resignations to the pope when they turn 75.

However, it does not signal an automatic or immediate retirement.

In a message of hope marking the beginning of Holy Week last weekend, Archbishop Martin said it is the first year in his 50 years of ministry, that he will be unable to participate in or lead Easter services due to restrictions around the coronavirus.

Born in Dublin in 1945, Archbishop Martin was ordained a priest on 25 May 1969. He succeeded Cardinal Desmond Connell as Archbishop of Dublin in April 2004.

The oldest Catholic diocesan school on the island is being repurposed to temporarily provide parking, changing and showering facilities for staff at a Belfast hospital during the covid19 emergency.

St Malachy’s College, which was opened in 1833, stands next to the Mater Hospital which is the main hub for coronavirus patients in Belfast.

Two holes are being cut in a wall that separates the buildings so that medical staff may freely move between the two without encountering members of the public.

One of the doorways will be used for staff to enter the hospital after putting on Personal Protective Equipment.

The other will be used at the end of their shifts to enter the school to shower and change before going home.

The College principal Paul McBride said the move will enable staff to get suited and booted before going into work and then get cleaned up and changed so they are infection-free before getting into their cars and going home.