“Caution, yes, not stigmatization,” Ghanaian Prelate on Relating with COVID-19 Patients

He continued, “Humanity is at its best when we come together to fight a good cause. We are at our best when we suffer with those who suffer or rejoice with those who rejoice. Humanity is at its best in our ability to empathize, to enter into the feeling of the other and then give the necessary and appropriate response.”

“This is what brings love and builds understanding amongst people and promotes unity and constructs the culture of peace,” the Local Ordinary of Accra said.

Further, the Prelate urged the faithful to seek for God’s mercy “as we suffer the ravages of Coronavirus and other unimaginable sicknesses (such as cerebrospinal meningitis).”

He encouraged turning to God and crying “out like the blind man of Jericho, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me’” (Mk 10:47).

“In our hopelessness, anxiety, helplessness, despair and when the going gets difficult for us, we cry to Him like the Psalmist, ‘Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,’” he said and added, “Overwhelmed by our sinfulness and unworthiness, we turn to God, like the tax-collector, and without daring to raise our eyes to heaven, we pray ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’”

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The 61-year-old Spiritan Prelate also appreciated the aid given by individuals and groups towards the needy during these difficult times.

“It is heart-warming to see sympathies expressed in many ways, donations given to fight the virus. Through these fraternal and generous gestures, we intensify and strengthen the one brotherhood of humanity at war against a common enemy,” he said.

The Ghanaian Prelate also urged his compatriots to heed to the government directives in the fight against COVID-19 and stay home, stay safe, wash their hands regularly, use hand sanitizer, wear face masks and endeavor to be each brother’s or sister’s keeper.

Meanwhile, speaking on Lumen Christi, a Catholic TV program on April 19, Archbishop Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle of Cape Coast stressed that COVID-19 was not a death sentence and urged the media to focus more on the positives than the negatives of the pandemic.

“COVID-19 was not the devil’s punishment as some have purported,” he said, telling Ghanaians to generally ask themselves what they can do to help the nation in the face of the pandemic.

“We must be ready as citizens to help protect people against the COVID-19,” Archbishop Palmer-Buckle said.

According to the Prelate “COVID-19 must breed a positive virus of love, care, sharing, honesty, selflessness and hard work to revolutionize the world to care for the needy and vulnerable, while all work in harmony to change the world for the best.”

The 69-year-old Archbishop further said that the outbreak of the pandemic should be the time for families to take time to bond together during the lockdown as Jesus Christ did with His disciples, saying, “For once, we are compelled to live together as a family, so let us make it home not a house.”

While advising Ghanaians to ensure a fair mix of spirituality by dedicating themselves to prayer, Archbishop Palmer-Buckle appealed to them to adhere to the stated health protocols to avoid contracting COVID-19.

“Christians must come out as better people after the outbreak,” said Archbishop Palmer-Buckle.

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