The Catholic Weekly 5 April 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 18 NEWS 5, April, 2020 WORLD COUNTRIES FIGHTING the coronavirus pandemic could face deadly consequenc- es if they focus on protecting their economies more than their own people, Pope Fran- cis said. In a handwritten letter sent on 28 March to Argen- tine Judge Roberto Andres Gallardo, president of the Pan-American Committee of Judges for Social Rights and Franciscan Doctrine, the pope said that some gov- ernments that have imposed lockdown measures “show the priority of their decisions: people first.” “This is important because we all know that defending the people implies an eco- BECAUSE OF hospital coro- navirus restrictions, a sub- urban priest in the US was was not allowed to meet with a Catholic patient dying of COVID-19 on 22 March. Monsignor John Cihak, parish priest of Christ the King Parish in Milwaukie, did make telephone contact and because of a provision in church law was able to lead him through the process of an act of contrition and a prayer for forgiveness. “This may become a com- mon occurrence given restric- tions placed by hospitals,” said a 23 March memo to western Oregon priests from Mons Gerard O’Connor, di- rector of the Office of Divine Worship of the Archdiocese of Portland. Although the sacraments of Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick cannot be admin- istered over the telephone, a Vatican tribunal’s 19 March indulgence offers another possibility. “Where the individual faithful find themselves in the painful impossibility of receiving sacramental abso- lution, it should be remem- bered that perfect contrition, coming from the love of God, beloved above all things, ex- pressed by a sincere request for forgiveness (that which the penitent is at present able to express) and accompanied by ‘votum confessionis,’ that is, by the firm resolution to have recourse, as soon as possible, to sacramental confession, LACK OF jobs and econom- ic disparity in Central Amer- ica were already driving large numbers of migrants north before coronavirus. Now those who long have worked with migrants worry about the effects COVID-19 will cause on the already frag- ile economic systems of the migrants’ home countries. They also worry about the environment the pandemic is creating for those migrants on the move and in new lands. Father Mauro Verzeletti, who has for decades helped feed and shelter migrants in Central America, said he has Pope warns on governments getting their priorities wrong ¾ ¾ Junno Arocho Esteves ¾ ¾ Ed Langlois People first, finance second nomic setback,” he said in the letter, which was published on 29 March by the Argentine newspaper La Nacion . “It would be sad if they opted for the opposite, which would lead to the death of many people, something like a viral genocide,” the pope wrote. In his letter, the pope said that while he was concerned about the global spread of the Cuban doctors are seen inside a bus at Madrid’s Adolfo Suarez Barajas Airport. PHOTO: CNS PHOTO/JUAN MEDINA, REUTERS Unable to offer the sacraments, a priest has helped a dying man through an act of contrition and a prayer for forgiveness. US Bishop Denis Madden of Baltimore places his hands in prayer on a migrant detainee. PHOTO: CNS/JIMWATERBURY COVID-19 virus, he also was “edified by the reaction of so many people – doctors, nurs- es, volunteers, religious men and women and priests – who risk their lives to heal and de- fend healthy people fromcon- tagion.” Although lockdown meas- ures implemented in many countries may “annoy” those forced to comply, the pope said that people have realised that it is for the sake of the common good. In the long run, he said, “most people ac- cept them and move forward with a positive attitude.” Pope Francis also told Gal- lardo that he recently met with members of the Dicast- ery for Integral Human Devel- opment to discuss “the pres- ent situation and what comes after” because “preparing for the aftermath is important.” “We are already seeing some consequences that need to be confronted,” the pope said. “Hunger–- especially for people without a steady job, violence and the appearance of loan sharks,” who are “the real plague of the social fu- ture; (they are) dehumanised criminals.” - CNS It felt a little strange ... you cannot help but feel you are let- ting the person down” Mons John Cihak We are already seeing some consequences that need to be confronted ... Hunger –- especially for people without a steady job, violence and the appearance of loan sharks.” Pope Francis Virus hits refugees, urban poor especially hard received scant news about what migrants are currently facing after the government of Guatemala ordered a quar- antine and he had to close the doors of the Casa del Mi- grante, one of the shelters he runs in Guatemala City. Fr Verzeletti already was in a quarantine of sorts because the government forbade him from leaving the shelter after he received death threats in January. But he was able to see and hear stories from those who came through the shelter and had knowledge of what was going on before the quaran- Priest helps via phone obtains forgiveness of sins, even mortal ones,” said the Vatican’s Apostolic Peniten- tiary, reaffirming long-stand- ing church law regarding for- giveness when confession is not possible. On the evening of 22 March, Mons Cihak received a call from a local hospital. The family wanted last rites for the man, but hospital regulations barred the priest from enter- ing the unit. The patient, on a respira- tor, was not able to respond but had the phone put to his ear. Mons Cihak helped him through the process of an act of contrition and a prayer for forgiveness. God has tied his grace to the sacraments but he himself is not bound by them,” Mons Cihak said. “It felt a little strange,” said Mons Cihak, who served as a master of ceremonies for Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis before returning to the US. “You can’t help but feel a little like you are letting the person down.” Msgr. Cihak said he is able to visit other patients in the hospital, but not those in iso- lation because of COVID-19. - CNS tine was put in place. “Now we’re not receiving any news, we don’t knowhowpeople are faring,” he said on 26 March. He’s now sheltering in place with two migrant fam- ilies and the superior of his order, the Scalabrinians, who was visiting when the national quarantine was put in place, shutting down flights. But watching the news, he’s learned of the scarcity of items in the stores. He worries about those who’ve lost their jobs, includ- ing those whose only means of making a living was by sell- ing household items or pro- duce on the streets in the “in- formal economy” that stocks the popular markets of Latin America. What will the economies and conditions of countries such as Guatemala look like after the coronavirus is over, he asked. “Famine?” he said. He alsoworries about those making the journey when the crisis hit, about the conditions in detention they’re facing in places such as the US, which he said already had a less than stellar record of treating detained migrants, including children and families. - CNS