Contagious Faith: Why the Church Must Spread Hope, Not Fear, in a Pandemic by Phil Lawler (B3)

Even by the most unrestrained estimates, the Covid pandemic never approached the lethality of the Spanish flu of 1918. Yet the effect that our fears, amplified by the mass media, had on society were infinitely more debilitating.

In times such as these, our Christian faith has always offered hope and strength. But this past year was different. The reservoir of Christian belief was drained to dangerously low levels, and many Christians succumbed to the epidemic of fear.

In this clear-eyed book about the real Covid crisis, Philip Lawler dissects how Church leaders and the faithful responded to this health emergency. He explains the devastating effects on society when Church leaders tell their people not to attend Sunday Mass, and when they ban Confession, marriages, and baptisms. He tackles the dangerous consequences of treating schoolchildren like lepers and explores the ethics of vaccines and the plight of parish priests caught in the middle.