The death of a young priest Fr Jayson Vaz, the assistant parish priest at Our Lady of Hope church in Candolim has caused much grief and shock among the Catholic community in the State.
Fr Jayson reportedly fell victim to Covid-19 infection. It must be said that Catholic priests, especially the elderly priests, face a great risk of being infected by the coronavirus while conducting the funeral prayers of a Covid-19 victim.
It is observed that proper pandemic protocol is not followed while the burial of a Covid-19 victim is conducted. Those carrying the coffin should mandatorily wear the PPE kit.
The body should be wrapped in plastic body-bag and the coffin should not be opened. It would be desirable for the priest to carry out a virtual blessing of the body at home through video call and the body taken directly to the cemetery.
The family members of the Covid-19 victim could take the holy water from the church and themselves sprinkle it over the body. This way at no point of time the priest will come in the vicinity of the victim’s body.
There needs to be a change in the protocol in the way funerals of Covid-19 victims are conducted in order to provide safety to the priests.
