Posted on 04/12/2020 5:29:29 PM PDT by marshmallow
With the federal prison system shutting down all visits, a Catholic priest has volunteered to be incarcerated rather than leave inmates without spiritual care.
“He offered to go there and live in the institution 24-7,” said Victoria Bishop Gary Gordon. “For a bishop to hear that from a priest, you say ‘OK, this is what it’s all about. This is the vocation — lay it on the line.’ It’s really beautiful.”
As COVID-19 infections begin to emerge in prisons, spiritual care for inmates has dwindled amid growing anxiety over the dangers faced by inmates and prison staff alike.
Gordon, who is the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ representative for prison ministry, said the priest who volunteered to remain with inmates has a deep and long commitment to prison ministry. He wouldn’t divulge the name or location of the priest to The Catholic Register for privacy reasons. Prison officials tuned down the priest's offer.
As the official liaison for Canada’s bishops with Corrections Canada, Gordon hopes to persuade federal officials not to completely cut prisoners off from their chaplains.
“If someone is gravely ill, then the priest should be allowed to bring them the holy Anointing of the Sick and viaticum,” he said.
The situation inside jails can be very dangerous, said Bonnie Weppler, executive director of the Church Council on Justice and Corrections. She compares the spread of COVID-19 in prisons to how it can spread in long-term care homes and cruise ships.
“What would you expect to happen? The same as you see happening in seniors’ homes. If one person gets it a whole bunch are going to get it,” Weppler said.
As of April 4, Corrections Canada had reported 12 positive COVID-19 tests out of 112 federal inmates who had been tested, with 20 more test results pending.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicregister.org ...
Dedicated....and brave!
Wonderful!
Dedicated, brave and wonderful!
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