At least 18 priests in Italy passed away from coronavirus as clerics expose themselves to the disease by comforting patients and sick people.
The priests were encouraged to “have the courage to go out and go to the sick people.” However, they contracted the virus while visiting intensive care units.
Five deaths have passed away from coronavirus in the city of Parma while at least 10 have died in the diocese of Bergamo. Other cases have emerged in Milan, Cremona, and Brescia.
The Catholic newspaper wrote that the deaths are ‘so numerous that it is difficult to count.’
Priests in the country come into contact with the most serious cases of the disease. For comparison, the number of healthcare workers killed by coronavirus is 13.
Father Claudio del Monte said to Adnkronos news agency: “Dressed in a mask, a cap, gloves, a robe and protective glasses, we priests walk around the halls like zombies.”
Army trucks delivered freshly-made wooden coffins to Bergamo. Morgues can no longer hold the bodies and there are fears the real death toll may be higher than reported because many victims were not tested.
Francesco Beschi, the bishop of Bergamo, said to the Vatican News site: “We no longer know where to put the dead.” He also said that looking at the coffins made him feel ‘very heavy.’
Like other victims, the priests were also buried without funerals.
Enrico Salmi, Parma’s bishop, told Avvenire: “It is painful to see the priests fall sick. Sometimes it happens (to them) out of pastoral zeal. They enter the intensive care unit where, naturally, no one is supposed to go.”
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