The Catholic Weekly 31 May 2020

14 31, May, 2020 W orld catholicweekly.com.au Opponents decry first execution inCovid era CATHOLIC ADVOCATES against the death penalty and other organisations spoke out against the US state of Mis- souri’s 19 May execution of a death-row inmate, Walter Barton, whose death by le- thal injection was the first ex- ecution to happen during the pandemic. So far, amid the corona- virus pandemic in the US, eight executions have been rescheduled citing concerns over COVD-19 infections. “Our nation has gone to great lengths to save lives and prevent unnecessary loss of life during the COVID-19 crisis,” said Krisanne Vaillan- court Murphy, executive di- rector of Catholic Mobilising Network, a group working to end the death penalty. “It’s tragically contradicto- ry that Missouri put a man to death amidst the herculean efforts we see daily to protect life,” she said in a statement, adding that his execution was “wrong-headed and uncon- scionable.” Capital punishment oppo- nents also pointed out that Barton’s execution went for- ward despite his strong claims of innocence. Sister Helen Prejean, a Sis- ter of St Joseph of Medaille, who is a longtime opponent of the death penalty, said in an 18 May tweet that Barton had been tried five separate times for the same crime and that “at least three of the jurors that sent him to death row now have doubts after seeing new evidence.” She said Missouri Repub- lican Governor Mike Parson “should stop this execution” and appoint a board of in- quiry “to figure out what really happened.” The Associated Press re- ported that Barton’s final statement released prior to his execution, said: “I, Walter ‘Arkie’ Barton, am innocent and they are executing an in- nocent man!” - CNS POPE FRANCIS will lead the major shrines around the world in praying the rosary to implore Mary’s intercession and protection amid the coro- navirus pandemic. The pope will pray at the replica of the Lourdes Grot- to in the Vatican Gardens on 30 May, the eve of Pentecost, and will also be joined by sev- eral “men and women repre- senting various categories of people particularly affected UK’s homes of death Pope to lead world rosary British COVID policy sacrificed the aged giving nation highest European death rate THE “EXTREMELY high death rate” in UK care homes for the elderly will go down as the greatest national fail- ure of the coronavirus crisis, a Catholic bioethics institute said. The Oxford-based Ans- combe Bioethics Centre said an “ageist bias” in the atti- tudes of policymakers toward the needs of care home resi- dents and staff had led them to prioritise the care of young- er and healthier patients over the elderly. This has contributed to the UK death rate rising to be- come the highest in Europe, said Xavier Symons, a bioeth- icist of the University of Notre Dame, Australia. “The extremely high death rate in aged care homes will likely be viewed as one of the great failures of health authorities’ responses to the COVID-19 crisis,” he said in the document published on 23 May on the website of the centre, which serves the Catholic Church in the UK and Ireland. The UK government has so far announced about 37,000 deaths, compared to some 32,000 in Italy, the sec- ond-worst affected European country. But the UK Office for Na- tional Statistics said that by 15 May , the actual figure was al- ready in excess of 47,000, with nearly 12,000 people dying from the virus in care homes. Symons noted that “care homes around the world have struggled to control the spread of coronavirus.” But he said the problem in the UK had been exacer- bated by the “consistently worse” provision of personal protective equipment for care homes compared to hospi- tals; a lack of community test- ing; and by the spreading of the virus “from nursing home to nursing home through workers who are employed at multiple sites.” To free up hospital beds ¾ ¾ Simon Caldwell On 30 May, Pope Francis will lead the world’s major shrines in pray- ing the rosary amid the coronavirus pandemic. PHOTO: CNS throughout March and April, the Department of Health di- rected hospitals to discharge elderly patients to care homes even if they were showing symptoms of COVID-19, while advising the homes to isolate those who had tested positive. But British media reported how in one Liver- pool care home, for instance, 12 residents died from COV- ID-19 after two patients were discharged into their midst from a hospital before they were tested for the virus. Another care home in East Sussex saw 30 residents die af- ter receiving patients from the hospital. Symons said the ability of nursing homes to provide ad- equate care was limited be- cause they had neither critical care units nor medical profes- sionals trained to deal com- plications arising from COV- ID-19 among elderly patients. Another consequence of the policies, he said, was a higher rate of deaths among nursing home staff compared to health care workers. Symons suggested that many unnecessary deaths might have been avoided if politicians had granted equal importance to the lives and needs of older people as they accorded to younger genera- tions. “The needs of older mem- bers of the community should be of primary concern in public discourse, rather than being ignored in the national agenda,” he said. “The COVID-19 pandemic has stretched governments to their limit. But this does not li- cense a suspension of ethics,” he added. “On the contrary, history shows that it is in a time of cri- sis that our concern for socie- ty’s most vulnerable becomes of greatest importance.” - CNS ¾ ¾ Carol Zimmermann by the virus,” the Vatican said. The service will be at 5.30pm in Rome (1.30pm Australian Eastern Standard Time on 31 May). “At the feet of Mary, the Holy Father will place the many troubles and sorrows of humanity, further worsened by the spread of COVID-19,” said a statement released by the Pontifical Council for Pro- moting New Evangelisation. According to the statement, the prayer, which coincides with the end of the Marian month of May, “is another sign of closeness and consola- tion for those who, in different ways, have been struck by the coronavirus, in the certainty that the Heavenly Mother will not disregard the requests for protection.” Among those who will ac- company the pope in praying the rosary will be a doctor and a nurse, a recovered patient as well as a person who lost a family member to COVID-19. Also taking part in the rosa- ry will be a hospital chaplain, a pharmacist, a journalist, a Civil Defense volunteer and his family and a family that welcomed a new baby, “a sign of hope and the victory of life over death,” the pontifical council said. Shrines around the world will connect to the event and take part in the prayer. - CNS The COVID-19 pandemic has stretched governments to their limit. But this does not license a suspension of ethics.” Xavier Symons, UNDA ethicist Health care workers help to settle a patient into a home for the elderly in early May near Portsmouth, England, after moving her from the hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. PHOTO: CNS PHOTO/LEON NEAL, POOL VIA REUTERS