COVID-19 and ecumenism: Pandemic prompts prayer, action Jan 17, 2021 catholic news service Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, is pictured in a Jan. 29, 2017, photo. (Credit: Giampiero Sposito/CNS.) The pandemic lockdowns and travel restrictions have had an impact on the Catholic Church's relationships with other Christian churches, but the effects were not all bad. ROME — The pandemic lockdowns and travel restrictions have had an impact on the Catholic Church’s relationships with other Christian churches, but the effects were not all bad. Around the globe, Christians of different denominations have and continue to practice what Pope Francis has called the “ecumenism of charity,” working together to care for the sick, support the mourning and feed the hungry.