Safeguard the Health of Clergy during COVID-19
Safeguard the Health of Clergy during COVID-19
The Issue
The health of priests, deacons, and clergy (and the people they serve) around the world are in jeopardy as many members continue their work to communities during COVID-19. My dad is a permanent deacon in the United States. My big brother is a priest in Spain. My only surviving maternal aunt is a nun in Bolivia. Their lives are at risk due to the failure of the Vatican to stop all public, in-person masses.
If religious leadership (of any faith) made stronger, proactive orders based on global trends to cease all public engagements, the spread of COVID could slow down more and save lives. Instead, we have reported cases of religious services spreading COVID. Example: March 2020, a Washington DC Episcopal priest spread COVID while handing out communion in Washington DC last month.
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2020/03/09/dc-priest-with-coronavirus-leads-prominent-historic-episcopal-parish/
My brother is under local order to lead weekly public masses for his parish and continue business as usual. He tries to protect his health and practice social distancing, but his work puts him in a direct path of exposure to COVID, which increases the chances of the disease to continually spread in Spain.
In the US, my dad is almost 70 years old and has Parkinson’s and respiratory issues. He had to make the stressful decision as to whether he would stay home under quarantine as advised by his medical providers or go to church each Sunday to assist the live stream mass in a small room, less than six-feet apart from other clergy. This is a decision he should not have to make while working for a global organization led by a scientist with the highest authority, Pope Francis.
As the head of the church located in the epicenter of Italy’s pandemic, the Vatican and Roman Catholic Church leadership under Pope Francis can issue a full stop of public masses and influence its members to stay home. This failure to do so threatens the lives of its faithful members and surrounding communities.
Sign this petition to demand the Vatican leadership take direct action to stop public masses and the spread of COVID in their ranks.
15
The Issue
The health of priests, deacons, and clergy (and the people they serve) around the world are in jeopardy as many members continue their work to communities during COVID-19. My dad is a permanent deacon in the United States. My big brother is a priest in Spain. My only surviving maternal aunt is a nun in Bolivia. Their lives are at risk due to the failure of the Vatican to stop all public, in-person masses.
If religious leadership (of any faith) made stronger, proactive orders based on global trends to cease all public engagements, the spread of COVID could slow down more and save lives. Instead, we have reported cases of religious services spreading COVID. Example: March 2020, a Washington DC Episcopal priest spread COVID while handing out communion in Washington DC last month.
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2020/03/09/dc-priest-with-coronavirus-leads-prominent-historic-episcopal-parish/
My brother is under local order to lead weekly public masses for his parish and continue business as usual. He tries to protect his health and practice social distancing, but his work puts him in a direct path of exposure to COVID, which increases the chances of the disease to continually spread in Spain.
In the US, my dad is almost 70 years old and has Parkinson’s and respiratory issues. He had to make the stressful decision as to whether he would stay home under quarantine as advised by his medical providers or go to church each Sunday to assist the live stream mass in a small room, less than six-feet apart from other clergy. This is a decision he should not have to make while working for a global organization led by a scientist with the highest authority, Pope Francis.
As the head of the church located in the epicenter of Italy’s pandemic, the Vatican and Roman Catholic Church leadership under Pope Francis can issue a full stop of public masses and influence its members to stay home. This failure to do so threatens the lives of its faithful members and surrounding communities.
Sign this petition to demand the Vatican leadership take direct action to stop public masses and the spread of COVID in their ranks.
15
Petition created on April 12, 2020