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April 21, 2020
Maureen O’Riordan Lundy
San Francisco
I am very conflicted about the role of priests at this time. I have tried to understand what is happening regarding the spiritual care of the sick and dying and am very saddened at the sense of helplessness regarding priest presence in hospitals. I feel as though I shouldn’t even ask. A few days ago, I read of a Dominican friar who moved into the nursing home where he is chaplain in order to safeguard his community and to avoid abandoning his mission. There is a crying need to hear stories like this.
My intent is not to criticize or to judge but simply to ask: Have Catholic priests not always been on the frontline?
Do we not have army chaplains, priests accompanying revolutionaries/freedom fighters, and priests in mission territories?
Did the church not recently canonize Archbishop Oscar Romero for joining the frontline?
What is different about COVID-19? Is it a shortage of PPE?
The frontline of the current battle is made up of young and not so young nurses, doctors, store clerks, janitorial staff, etc. who are daily living the anxiety of contaminating their families.
Shouldn’t PPE-clad priests be right there with them – both to serve them and to serve the sick?
Shouldn’t the church somehow attempt to stand in the gap between this life and the next, and help us make that crossing safely?
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