The President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales said that there are lessons to learn, with the national lockdown revealing the “really important things in life, and this is a summons to all of us to live more closely to the crucial things, and not worry too much about the superficial things”.

“And I think for all three of us - and for me - who wants to proclaim my belief in God, that problem, we have to not be afraid of saying, this is a challenge from God. It’s a challenge that’s arisen out of the events of the world.

“Science helps us to solve it, but science alone won't do it and nor is our faith opposed to that science. I can't say, ‘I believe in God therefore I’ll ignore the evidence’. No, it’s science, reason, and faith working together in a very important way.”

However Cardinal Nichols also praised the role of technology in keeping people connected.

“I’m amazed at the creativity of so many groups and individuals,” he said. “There’s a kind of burgeoning of spirituality, a burgeoning of helping each other to pray and we are hugely benefitting from these remarkable internet facilities.

“It’s the house church of the early church combined with the technology of the twenty-first-century, and for once the technology looks unambiguously positive just in this period, and I'm just astonished at the creativity and the richness and the inventiveness of so many things that are on offer to help us.”