how but no why

the Pope, in the midst of an epidemic that has many of us in lockdown, and is threatening the ability of the poor and middle class here in the Philippines and other third world countries, is busy pushing environmental issues because.... well, who cares?

There are many pros and cons about caring for the environment, and even a lot of stuff in the bible about the beauty of nature, but the Pope seems to be spouting empty words at best, or propaganda that promotes a secular agenda at worst.

Myself, I am annoyed at the church: Actually, I support limiting services, since as my last post noted, services inside poorly ventilated churches are a great way to spread respiratory disease. But you know, if you held mass outdoors (where there was room to distance) and gave communion in the hand I just don't see an infection risk. Spray the hands of the server with alcohol, or use "handiwipes" frequently while doing so? Why not: The old fashioned mass service has the priest washing his hands several times  (see wikipedia Levabo)

My ancestors snuck out to hear mass at "mass rocks", and I've attended mass in African villages under a tree, so what's the problem? Don't the priests believe the reality of the mass and the Eucharist?

as a catholic, if you believe there is a God,  you meet him in mass and communion in a personal way and get strength from this to lead you life,  so shouldn't priests who believe this find a way to help their people even in the time of plagues?

For my protestant relatives, they stream the service because it's about singing and hearing the word: like the "modern" mass in many (but not all) post Vatican II churches, it's a bit too close to entertainment for my cynical mindset. Happy happy happy, and superficial...

True, it's not quite as bad here in the rural Philippines as it was in the USA because suffering is too close to us here, and the Pasyon (which by the way was banned this year) and Black Nazarene are symbols that help us to remember Christ suffered too.

You see, Mass is more than hymn singing: for Catholics, the Eucharist is a powerful reality of meeting God. Yes, reality, not a symbol as too many Post Vatican II catholics and most protestants seem to think it is.

Christians care for the sick, of course, and caring for the sick is caring for God himself: but what is missing is that the sick need the hope that suffering has an ultimate meaning and death is not the end, and we caregivers desperately need the presence of God to strengthen us in our work.

One of my medical school teachers told us that few physicians are active in their churches, most believe in God, because we see so much suffering. We see many who should live who die, but we also see the small miracles of those we thought would die who live. And if we didn't believe there was a higher reason behind all of this, we would not be able to function as good physicians.

this is true:

ah, but where are the voices today that are willing to tell us of this hope?

as one of my African patients said: Yes, doctor I know how I got the disease, but you doctors are unable to tell us why we got sick. 

uh, yes. That is the job of the priests.

Cardinal Robert Sarah, an African bishop who works at the Vatican, quietly has written an essay about this lack.

The Church has committed herself to the struggles for a better world. She has been right to support ecology, peace, dialogue, solidarity, and the equitable distribution of wealth. All these struggles are just. But they could make us forget the words of Jesus: “My kingdom is not of this world.” ...\

Covid-19 laid bare an insidious disease that was eating away at the Church: she thought that she was “of this world.” She wanted to feel legitimate in her own eyes and according to her own criteria. But a radically new reality has appeared. Triumphant modernity has collapsed in the face of death. This virus revealed that, despite its assurances and security, this earthly world was still paralyzed by the fear of death.

The world can solve health crises. It will certainly solve the economic crisis. But it will never solve the enigma of death. Faith alone has the answer....

In the face of death, there is no human response that can hold. Only the hope of eternal life can surpass the scandal of death. But who is the man who will dare to preach hope? It takes the revealed word of God to dare to believe in a life without end. It takes a word of faith to dare to hope for oneself and one's family. The Catholic Church is therefore called back to its primary responsibility. ...

But if that is so, the Church must change. She must stop being afraid of causing shock and of going against the tide. She must give up thinking of herself as a worldly institution. She must return to her only “raison d'être”: faith. The Church is there to announce that Jesus conquered death through His resurrection. This is at the heart of her message: “And if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching; empty, too, your faith … and we are the most wretched of all men” (1 Corinthians 15:14-19).

....Our societies will come out of this crisis weakened. They will need psychologists to overcome the trauma of not being able to accompany the elderly and the dying to their tombs, but even more, they will need priests to teach them to pray and to hope. ...