'Church refused to bury my cousin's body, so I performed last rites'

On June 13 a 32yearold parishioner of Andheris Sacred Heart Church performed the last rites and sprinkled holy water on her deceased 68yearold uncles grave He had tested positive for COVID19 and died the previous night There was no priest to recite the final prayers though the BMC and global medical experts have made it clear that there is no chance of COVID19 being transmitted from a dead bodyThe Andheri resident said that her uncle had been unwell for a long time and died at KEM on June 12She said that usually the parish priest blesses the body at home or at the cemetery before burial I was told that we could not bury my uncle at the cemetery in Sacred Heart Church as they were not allowing the burial of COVID19 patients We buried him at the St Peters Catholic Cemetery in Mahalaxmi The church said priests were not allowed to come for last rites because of some circular that they had received I finally requested holy water from them and performed the last rites myself and blessed my uncles graveI would have arranged PPE kitShe added If they wanted I could have even arranged for a PPE kit as well as ensured social distancing It might be dangerous for aged priests to come for the last rites of COVID19 patients but younger priests can be assignedOn June 4 a 53yearold resident of Bhowaida and a parishioner of St Pauls Church lost his 71yearold cousin to COVID19 The church refused to bury his body as they were not allowing it at the time and the parish priest told us that they had received a circular telling them not to attend funeral rites The last rites were finally performed by me the Bhoiwada resident saidEvery church has younger priestsCyril Dara secretary of Christian Reform Unite People Association CRUPA who has been leading the fight to get burials for COVID19 victims approved at all cemeteries in the city said The hospital hands over the body to the resident or local police station of the deceased The police hand the body over to the deceaseds family for funeral rites The families have to take it directly to the cemeteryMy contention is that if you feel aged priests are scared every church also has younger priests whom they could send he addedRules never changedSpeaking to midday Father Nigel Barrett spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Bombay said that rules around the last rites had never changed irrespective of COVID19It is possible that some times the priest cannot travel to the cemetery due to travel restrictions but blessing of a COVID19 patients body has never been an issue I myself have blessed a few I dont know if priests are scared but there is no such order from the Archdiocese We have told priests not to touch the body mdash which is the protocol that needs to be followed as per BMC mdash but other than that you can bless with holy water and perform all the last ritesFather Innocent Fernandes parish priest of Andheris Sacred Heart Church said We dont go to the hospital or crematorium or burial grounds that are not under our church Usually bodies are brought to the church cemetery Burial of COVID19 patients bodies was not allowed here but the BMC recently announced that burials are now allowed at all cemeteriesCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news