Contagious Faith: Why the Church Must Spread Hope, Not Fear in a Pandemic

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.

Best of all, Lawler reveals how faithful Catholics responded to major crises in previous centuries and calls on today’s Christians to display the same courageous faith that once offered hope to a fearful world ― one that radiates inner peace, confidence, and hope in times such as these.

Epidemics may come, wars may rage, and governments may teeter and fall, but when our eyes remain fixed on the Lord, we will know serenity and draw souls to Christ. Our hope and courage will be contagious, and our society will be saved from the death spiral into fear, hatred, and despair that we are witnessing.

Philip F. Lawler is the founder and editor of Catholic World News and has served as editor of both and Catholic World Report. A veteran journalist and political commentator, he has authored more than a dozen books on Church and culture, with essays appearing in major outlets including the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the Boston Globe