Although the public celebration of the Mass has been suspended in much of the world to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, Catholic priests are still trying to minister to their flock, even at the risk of their own health.
Donned with protective gear, many priests are continuing to give the last rites. Many dioceses, such as Santiago in Chile, have been giving special training in conjunction with healthcare professionals so that priests can visit hospitals and hospices with minimal risk to themselves or their patients.
A priest in Buenos Aires, Argentina told Crux this weekend that he went to a hospital on Friday after a nurse called him crying over the fact the authorities wouldn’t allow a patient’s family to visit.
The Argentinian authorities could prosecute the priest for breaking the country’s mandatory quarantine regulations – which he insists he as otherwise kept – but “desperate times call for desperate measures, and I couldn’t leave that desperate call unanswered.”
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