Epidemiology in the Catholic Church
Epidemiology in the Catholic Church
By: Peter Breboneria II
EPIDEMIOLOGY
Epidemiology is a field of study that looks at how communities, not an individual spread the coronavirus (COVID-19) or mitigate it. It studied the cause of the pandemic and associated factors to be used for preventing and controlling COVID-19. To characterize the virus outbreak in the Catholic church, it measures the number of new cases over a set of periods of time, the total number of existing cases, and the frequency of death (National Geographic Society, 2019).
Superspreader
Religion as a vector of COVID-19 transmission or mitigation was one of the major themes in analyzing the pandemic. Multiple reports had been documented how religious gatherings identified as important venues of virus transmission in South Korea, Germany, the USA, the Netherlands, Singapore, Hongkong, and India.
The most notable SSE was the religious gathering at the Shincheonji Church of Jesus(Not a Catholic Church) with ‘Patient 31’ in Daegu, South Korea confirmed on February 18, 2020. The 4482 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were linked to her church attendance. Another SSE event was a catholic pilgrimage tour that produced 49 cases last March 8, 2020, after Israel’s visits between February 8, 2020, to February 16, 2020 (Majra et al, 2020).
In New Zealand, the sharing of the communion of several attendees on a Catholic Mass at St Mary Church conducted by Father Murphy was linked to one of first New Zealand confirmed COVID-19 cases (Oxholm et al, 2020).
In the Netherlands, a mass gathering in a carnival took place on February 22-25, 2020 before the first outbreak. Catholicism has a strong association with the carnival. In the 1960s carnival was highly known among the Southern Catholic Dutches in the provinces of Brabant and Limburg and endorsed by the clergy. Catholic Mass is performed at the opening of the Carnival (Vermeer et al, 2020).
Disease Mitigation
The Catholic Church has an old practice for revising religious rituals amidst a contagious outbreak. In 1918, Bishop John Patrick Farrelly of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland sent a letter to all priests to follow every guideline or policy set by the “Board of Health and Aid” to contain the Spanish Influenza pandemic. Priests were allowed to observe mass at homes, published “hymns and Bible readings” in the newspapers (Miller et al., 2020). The Catholic Foreign Missionaries in the 1910s wore “protective clothing, including gloves, face masks, and often headgear” (National Geographic Society, 2019).
PHOTOGRAPH BY CATHOLIC FOREIGN MISSION SOCIETY OF AMERICA
Due to the worldwide social distancing decrees on March 2020, Pope Francis established guidelines on celebrating Holy Week in line with public health policies set by the government. He joined the faithful through multimedia-television, radio, and the internet. Sunday Masses were conducted virtually in accordance with local health instructions. Bishops worldwide canceled their Sunday obligation. Some dioceses prohibited their priests to administer sacraments- hearing confessions and anointing of the sick. If ever performed, it shall be in conformity to “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations and local directives,” and with health care assistants (Miller et al, 2020).
After acquiring more than 1,900 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Brazil on March 21, 2020, researchers in Catholic Latin America made a proposal to voluntary cancel travels and activities during Holy Week that will start on April 5, 2020. In addition to that, “handwashing and respiratory hygiene” and “restrictions on performing Holy Weeks face-to-face” must be part of the religious ritual and mandatory sanctioned by public health officials and religious authorities. The liturgical celebration, activities, and processions during Holy Week attract gigantic crowds in Catholic Countries- not just in Latin America but also in the Caribbean, Italy, Spain, the Philippines, and the rest. The case in Latin America is complicated due to other existing infectious diseases in the case as measles and dengue (Rodriguez-Morales, 2020).
Sacramental Celebrations such as weddings and baptisms in the Philippines were canceled but not funeral rituals. The corpse of the COVID-19 victims is not contagious according to the WHO. But for precautionary measures, “relatives are not to touch nor to kiss the body of the victims as a precaution to prevent the transmission”. There are only two left “unacceptable practices” on funeral rites: “a cremation or a mass burial in a mass grave”. To die poor in the Philippines in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic is “not only sad but cruel”. Several unclaimed dead bodies piled up along the hallway of the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City due to insufficient freezers, the hesitancy of the family and relatives to claim for fear of virus transmission, and the financial charges when they “claim the cadaver.”(Eliverä , 2020)
After lockdown in Quezon City, Philippines, the 65th Anniversary in Parish of the Holy Sacrifice at the University of the Philippines was celebrated to commemorate the completion and blessing of the UP Diliman Chapel in cooperation “with Barangay UP Campus and UP Diliman, the Parish Pastoral Council” to assure “the safety of all those who will physically attend the celebration” (BMPlus, 2020).
The researcher attends mass three to seven times a week to pray for the safety of his Philippine Army family member and relatives. Before he entered the church, the staff will ask him to fill out a contact tracing form and check the body temperature. Each attendee is required to wear a mask and face shield.
To control the spread of the virus, there is a need to further study religious beliefs, practices, and identities that relate to social distancing, disease mitigation behaviors, and medical behaviors (Baker et al, 2020).
References
1. Epidemiology | National Geographic Society. (n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2021, from https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/epidemiology/
2. Majra, D., Benson, J., Pitts, J., & Stebbing, J. (2021). SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) superspreader events. Journal of Infection, 82, 36–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2020.11.021
3. Oxholm, T., Rivera, C., Schirrman, K., & Hoverd, W. J. (2020). New Zealand Religious Community Responses to COVID-19 While Under Level 4 Lockdown. Journal of Religion and Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-01110-8
4. Vermeer, P., & Kregting, J. (2020). Religion and the transmission of COVID-19 in The Netherlands. Religions, 11(8), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11080393
5.Miller, A., Castro Bigalli, A., & Sumanam, P. (2020, April 1). The coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic, social distancing, and observance of religious holidays: Perspectives from Catholicism, Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism. International Journal of Critical Illness and Injury Science. Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. https://doi.org/10.4103/IJCIIS.IJCIIS_60_20
6.Rodriguez-Morales, A. J., Sah, R., & Paniz-Mondolfi, A. (2020). Should the Holy Week 2020 be cancelled in Latin America due to the COVID-19 pandemic? In Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease (Vol. 36). Elsevier USA. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmaid.2020.101633
7. Eliverä, E. S. (2020). Life and Churchlife During Pandemic: Bioethical Issues and Church Response in the Time of COVID-19. In MST Review (Vol. 22, Issue 1). https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/25/
8. U.P. Parish of Holy Sacrifice marks 65th Anniversary | BusinessMirror. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2021, from https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/12/18/u-p-parish-of-holy-sacrifice-marks-65th-anniversary/
9.Baker, J. O., Martí, G., Braunstein, R., Whitehead, A. L., & Yukich, G. (2020). Religion in the Age of Social Distancing: How COVID-19 Presents New Directions for Research. Sociology of Religion, 81(4), 357–370. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/sraa039
About the Author
Peter Dadis Breboneria II (Formerly Peter Reganit Breboneria II) is the founder of the International Center for Youth Development (ICYD) and the program author/ developer of the Philippines first internet-based Alternative Learning System(ALS) and Utak Henyo Program of the Department of Education featured by GMA News & Public Affairs, and ABS-CBN and MOA signed with Department of Education, Voice of the Youth Network, Junior Chamber International (JCI), and the Philippine Music and the Arts. He was the International Radio/TV format Host for Youth Program at Veritas Asia, a giant Catholic media network. He started as a local Youth Radio host at Gospel Broadcasting Network, an evangelical station, and trained by Far East Broadcasting Network (FEBC Legazpi Branch). He garnered model youth awards at Ateneo de Naga University, Bicol’s premier university in 2008. He is currently studying at the University of the Philippines-Open University. He studied Pastoral Management and Leadership at the Loyola School of Theology, a theological graduate school in Ateneo de Manila University. The Philippine Normal University-The National Center for Teacher Education waived his entrance exam and majorship exam. You may visit his website at www.peterbreboneria.com
