The Kanjurmarg church was following a year-old order, which was rescinded only after the intervention of the Bishop, and the family was finally allowed to bury their loved one there
The family was allowed to bury the 56-year-old COVID victim, who died on Tuesday evening, at the church’s graveyard on Wednesday afternoon
For the grieving Mendonza family, the final goodbye to their beloved 56-year-old kin became even more heart-rending when their church refused to bury him at the cemetery because of his COVID-19 diagnosis. The quinquagenarian from Kanjurmarg died of a heart attack on Tuesday evening while undergoing treatment at BKC COVID Centre. His family members then approached the St Francis Xavier Church for the burial, but were denied permission in violation of the BMC’s June order. The civic body had directed all cemeteries to allow burials of COVID-19 victims. Its order was further attested and amplified by the Archdiocese of Bombay’s office.
Speaking with mid-day, Swensea Cardoz, the 22-year-old niece of the deceased, said, “My uncle was admitted to the hospital on April 11 night soon after he tested positive for Coronavirus. He was very weak.”
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After his demise, “when we approached the church on Tuesday evening, we were told that there’s a rule against burials of COVID-19 victims here. The assistant parish priest at the church also said that the facility (graveyard) is small. Later we learnt that the local Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) had implemented an order last year to not allow COVID-19 burials at the church’s graveyard. This rule had not been revoked yet.”
Swensea and her family then escalated the matter to Bishop Allwyn D’Silva. They were finally allowed to bury the deceased on Wednesday afternoon, following D’Silva’s intervention.
On the refusal, PPC member Edrich Dmello told mid-day, “The rule was made last year keeping in mind future circumstances. COVID-19 bodies are buried in plastic bags, which take six years to decompose. This means that we cannot open the grave for six years. We have just 130 graves. Furthermore, the graveyard is located on the church premises which has a school attached to it. Since the virus is alive even after burying the body, there is a chance that some years later we would have positive cases from here. It was on medical grounds that the decision to not bury COVID-19 victims was taken last June.”
But after that, we didn’t have any meeting [of the PPC]. When the matter was escalated on yesterday, the parish priest in charge of making the decision and other higher church authorities gave the go-ahead for the funeral.” Dmello added, “We also want burials to take place here but there is also a limited number of graves. The COVID-19 graves will be locked for years. Where will ordinary people get to be buried then?”
The Association of Concerned Catholics (AOCC) as well as the Maharashtra Minority Christian Development Council’s Mumbai Chapter have accused the church of “hurting religious sentiments.” Darryl Dsouza, MMDC Mumbai president, said, “Not a single COVID-19 burial has taken place at this church’s cemetery ever since the pandemic began last year.” Melwyn Fernandes of the AOCC said, “Instead of taking responsibility, the church just ignores the issue and conveniently puts the blame on the parish priest and PPC members. It is only after our interference that the matter was sorted.”
Activist Cyril Dara, Christian Reform United People Association secretary, who along with his team has conducted over 300 burials across Mumbai, and who along with the MMDC and AOCC helped the Mendonza family, said the BMC in June last year allowed burials of COVID-19 victims at all Christian, Muslim and Jews cemeteries. “Even Bombay High Court allowed dignified burial of COVID-19 victims.”
“In the recent past, the parish priest of St Francis Xavier Church denied three burials, which is against the BMC and the HC orders. These three bodies were buried in different cemeteries. Families are in pain and the church should support the bereaved family and stop harassing the parishioners.”
Father Nigel Barrett, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Bombay, said, “Sometimes, there is a lack of communication due to the lockdowns. The communication might not have been properly understood by those in-charge at the church.”
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