Fr. Fabio DeSouza and COVID-19

When the pandemic hit, Fr. Fabio DeSouza turned a potential obstacle into a great pastoral opportunity. He opened a digital door to his Our Lady of Fatima Portuguese community and beyond. For Fr. DeSouza, this is only the beginning of his new online ministry.

What challenges have you faced during Covid-19?

In the beginning of this pandemic, I could say there were two challenges: institutional  –– how to run a parish with no parishioners and little revenue, and pastoral –– how to reach people in their homes. 

What blessings have you received during Covid-19? 

I arrived in Calgary four years ago from Brazil. The most fruitful moment of my pastoral ministry here in Calgary is this time of pandemic. I’m reaching more people now than before. We have about 300 families registered here; the families that come regularly are around 150. Our Facebook videos have around 17,000 views per month. I had some families from the U.S., Ontario, Portugal and Brazil join us online. I opened a digital door for them.

The majority of my parishioners are seniors. They said: Father, we cannot go to the church for personal prayer. With this challenge I started to think about what we could do. I decided to start with a short talk about the daily Gospel and pray the rosary every day. I decided this for two reasons. When we can pray together we can have a better relationship. They can present their intentions for the rosary. They can share the challenges they have, I can say some words directly to the families. I noticed that this approach worked better than Mass online every day because we had better contact. We had Mass live-streamed twice a week.  

We had no financial problem. For me it was a huge surprise. We implemented the digital platform for online donations and they continued to send their envelopes. They felt connected with me and the parish. For some of them it was like I was going to their home everyday, praying with them and sharing the Gospel and talking to them. They learned how to find our parish on Facebook and we met there every day.

What have you learned from Covid-19? 

Going forward I think that we should try to find different ways to establish our presence in this ‘new digital continent’. It’s creating a space where we can develop our mission in the digital world. We need to think more about this new reality. Some may think, if we do an online service, people will not come to the physical church. We think one thing is in opposition to the other, but I think not. Because if my parish offers a consistent online spiritual service, people will feel more connected to my community. And I have heard this feedback from my parishioners. 

The digital continent is a place for mission. We have to learn the culture and language, and it’s different from the presence in person. We have two platforms: here, in the church, in person, and the digital platform. I wish to learn more and do more. I think this is the way of the future. 

Fr. Fabio DeSouza