ROME (CNS) -- Public Masses are banned throughout Italy, but literally thousands of Masses are celebrated each day and, in addition to watching them on television or computer screens, the faithful can receive "spiritual Communion."

Pope Francis, after reciting a livestreamed Angelus prayer March 15, told people, "United to Christ we are never alone, but instead form one body, of which he is the head. It is a union that is nourished with prayer and also with spiritual communion in the Eucharist, a practice that is recommended when it isn't possible to receive the sacrament."

Here is an unsigned editorial titled: "How Catholics should respond to the coronavirus," which appeared online March 5 on the website of America Magazine, a weekly Jesuit publication.

The coronavirus illness, designated COVID-19, has spread to over 100 countries, infected at least 121,000 people and killed at least 4,375 worldwide. Even as the spread of the virus has slowed in China, the epicenter of the outbreak, cases are cropping up in communities across the United States, which as of March 11 has 1,016 cases. At least 31 people have died.