COVID-19 prevented a Unite Our Nation Eucharistic procession from taking place in Los Angeles, but that did not stop the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) from virtually hosting a Rosary Coast to Coast rally Oct. 22 at the University of Southern California.

“Here in Southern California, we're actually still completely locked down, which means students are learning remotely, and we have all of our Bible studies and other events online,” said Katherine Redmond, team director at the University of Southern California for FOCUS. “We haven't seen some of our students in person since March.”

That’s due to the rising number of coronavirus cases.

According to the California Department of Public Health dashboard, there are 886,865 coronavirus cases statewide and 17,262 fatalities as of Oct. 23. In Los Angeles County alone, there are 294,065 cases and 6,956 deaths.

“Our team of six missionaries walked for about 30 minutes with our chaplain, Father Richard, in a local nearby community close to downtown Los Angeles,” Redmond told the American Catholic Tribune. “We walked around the neighborhood where there was space so that we could follow the COVID-19 rules and make sure everything was safe. Our students participated with a virtual link and prayed with us that way.”

Although the mini-procession and rosary occurred over Zoom without the monstrance, the Unite Our Nation event hosted by FOCUS is counted among the 30 that took place nationwide, including in Kenosha, Wisconsin; Detroit; Steubenville, Ohio; Little Rock, Arkansas, and San Diego. Future processions are planned for Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, and Atlanta on Nov. 7. 

“I hope that our students were able to gain a greater peace, especially with the election coming up and for them, in particular, as the coronavirus persists because it's impacting their 'normal,'” Redmond said. “It's been like this for them since March with very little letup in terms of change. It can be really unsettling for college students to not know what the future of their education looks like. I hope the event gave them peace, trust in the Lord and unity remembered and realized. They are still a part of this local body of Christ here at USC and our Catholic Center.” 

FOCUS serves 171 college campuses and more than 50 are participating in a Eucharistic procession in addition to USC, such as New York University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Colorado State and even at international campuses such as the University of Southampton and the University of Passau, according to media reports.

“As Catholics, it's fundamental to our faith that we are the body of Christ,” Redmond said. “We believe that we work together in our pursuit of salvation and our pursuit of conformity to Jesus Christ. Even though we can't see each other, which is one of the most basic human ways of understanding and connection, we're uniting on this front for the thing that is so important in this time, which is peace.”