Seven Italian Priests Have Reportedly Died of Coronavirus

Msgr. Rini ran Cremona’s diocesan newspaper for 30 years, and was at one time the president of the Italian bishops’ news agency. He was also a novelist, and a noted literary expert, who served as the Church’s liaison to the Cristina di Savoia Cultural Congresses, which aim to promote Christian culture in Italy.

In Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishops’ conference, journalistic colleagues of Rini wrote that the priest “represented an open window to hope, the virtue that had always characterized his life.”

More than 21,000 people in Italy have been infected with coronavirus, and nearly 1,500 have died.

Priests in other countries have also been afflicted with coronavirus. Earlier this month, a French priest was hospitalized with the virus, and last week a priest in Peru was among the first patients to be hospitalized for coronavirus in that country.

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This story is developing and has been updated after publication.