Arriving in Regensburg from Stockholm, the pandemic was omnipresent. Even at St Wolfgang’s, the 19th-century seminary building where I met Gerhard Cardinal Müller, one could not escape this moment in history. The corridors were empty; the normally imposing cardinal entered the small parlour wearing a face mask and simple clerical dress.
We were speaking in the middle of the pandemic, and we began with the Church’s response to it. Many have asked how the abrogation of the obligation of Sunday Mass has affected the life of the Church. The Cardinal was clear: there are many negative effects, he said. “People are getting used to the idea that it is not so important to be present bodily. Some think it is enough to be present virtually.”
