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The president of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference admitted this Saturday, in Fatima, to suspend the traditional Misa del Gallo, at Christmas, if the numbers of the 19 covid pandemic continue to be worrying, to protect lives.
José Ornelas said he expected the evolution of the number of people infected by SARS-CoV-2, but admitted to having suspended the service. “If necessary, to defend life, we will”He said at the closing press conference of the Plenary Assembly of the CEP, referring to the celebration of the Mass of the Rooster.
“We don’t play with people’s health. We will solve problems with the same principles, with the same concerns, but also with the same sense of balance, so that we do not die from the virus or its cure ”, he emphasized.
According to the Bishop of Setúbal, the church has “very clear rules that have been agreed with the General Health Directorate, down to the last detail” and has done everything possible to guarantee the safety of the celebrations.
I cannot assure you that there will be no contagion, since most infected people are asymptomatic, but it is much easier to catch it in the supermarket or restaurant than in churches, even due to the nature of the community that comes together, such as it is. and what it does “said José Ornelas.
The main concern for the president of the CEP are infections at home. “It’s okay to celebrate at home, but it can’t be the big family. Who wouldn’t want to be home with the big family, all together? But, for our grandparents to arrive next Christmas, perhaps, it is necessary that this Christmas we are not together, because this is sad and heartbreaking, “he added.
José Ornelas has no doubt that “if containment is necessary,” the church will have it and pointed to the exchange of messages through Internet applications as a way to “smooth over what is not possible to achieve in person.”
The president of the CEP also considered that the “tremors” of this pandemic “are occasions to think a lot about ways of living.”
“I’m not saying that we caused this pandemic, but do we have to think about how prepared we were to respond to these challenges? What we had invested in health facilities and in the ability we have to organize our lives ”, He asked, recalling that now it is necessary to “try to balance all aspects of life between economy, being at home, taking care of yourself, taking care of the environment and this planet.”
José Ornelas regretted that the pandemic showed all kinds of attitudes. “We have seen people with total self-denial, who renounce themselves and their families and we have seen very moving currents of solidarity, even in civil society. But, we have also seen the use and manipulation of all this, a denial and populist language, “he said.
The bishop also highlighted the “steps that Europe has taken in the direction of this solidarity, when it is said that when vaccines arrive, they are not only for those who have the power to pay.”
“To say that we have to work more together and also use the weaknesses of others to obtain our own benefits, whether at the political, strategic or military level, is the greatest shame for humanity. I hope it is an occasion to think about a better world ”, he concluded.
The covid-19 pandemic caused at least 1,305,039 deaths derived from more than 53.4 million cases of infection worldwide, according to a report prepared by the French agency AFP.
In Portugal, 3,305 people died from 211,266 confirmed cases of infection, according to the most recent bulletin from the Directorate General of Health.
The disease is transmitted by a new coronavirus detected at the end of December 2019 in Wuhan, a city in central China.
