ASIA/PHILIPPINES - "Medical emergency" for Covid-19: The Church asks compassion, care and resilience                

Wednesday, 11 March 2020 healthcare   coronavirus   prayer   faith  


Manila (Agenzia Fides) - "Trusting in the Lord, we prostrate to beg His mercy. We are ready to serve Him and His people”: with this spirit, expressed in a pastoral letter circulated among the faithful in the archdiocese of Manila, Catholic Church of Philippines has put in practice preventive health measures after President Rodrigo Duterte declared “the national medical emergency” to counter the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19).
“The epidemic represents an emergency that threatens national security, that requires measures from the entire government”, as President Duterte declared. The country registered about 50 confirmed cases with “local transmission”.
In Manila, every educational institution of all levels is closed until the 14th March. While the situation is worsening, Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Apostolic Administrator of Manila Archdiocese, has issued a specific pastoral letter dedicated to Covid-19 emergency and addressed to all faithful, received by Agenzia Fides, stating: “We should not make useless panic and fear circulate. Let’s make that out attitude is compassion and care of the others. We have to adopt precautional measures in a spirit of charity towards everybody. We have also to be prepared for any eventuality”. The Bishop encourages everybody to “intensify prayers for the protection and the action of God” in the current emergency. “Faith – the letter affirms – can prevent evil. We pray and practise a good protection of our health. In the spirit of Lent, we keep a healthy lifestyle so that our bodies can be strong enough to resist infections. This means that we need to eat healthy food, to get enough rest, to maintain the hygiene, to exercise and avoid travels and large gatherings”.
All Churches have suggested some precautions to follow, as the advice to faithful to stay home in case they have flu symptoms and cough, to pray and read the Sacred Scripture at home. Masses and liturgical celebrations are available through mass media, tv and the web, as the Bishop’s pastoral letter reminds. Moreover, “until the virus is overcome, everybody should refrain from touching and kissing statues and sacred images, and also protective glass frameworks”, it states.
Addressing to the clergymen, the Bishop writes: “We have to resist in this moment of crisis. Make our ecclesial institutions resilient. What we can save in this moment will be devoted to a fund of resilience in case of calamity. In this way, we can sustain our religious institutions”. The text ends entrusting all those who are ill, as well as the doctors and the people in the hands of the Lord, compassionate and merciful. (SD-PA) (Agenzia Fides 11/3/2020)


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