Leaders of various religions in Kerala on April 29 appealed their people to observe a joint-prayer day to pray for Covid-19 patients, deceased, health-care workers and administrators amid the pandemic out-break.

They have suggested May 3, the day a nationwide lock-down is scheduled to end after 40 days, to observe the prayer program.

The leaders say Kerala’s efforts to prevent Covid-19 have become a model for the rest of the world. Unity of public irrespective of religious or caste discrimination is necessary in the battle against the virus.

Hence, the religious leaders decided to observe a joint-prayer day.

Hindu leaders expected at the prayer day observation are Kozhikode Advaithashramam founder Swami Chidananda Puri, Swami Sadbhavananda from Thrissur Sreeramakrishna Math, Sivagiri math general secretary Swami Sandrananda, and Thrissur Thekkemadom head Vasudevananda Brahmanandabhoothi.

Muslims will be represented by Panakkad Sayed Hyderali Shihab Thangal, Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliyar, Hussain Madavoor, and Thiruvananthapuram Palayam Imam V P Suhaib Moulavi.
Leaders of all prominent Christian denominations will also attend the prayer.

A Catholic nun, who was tested Covid 19 positive, spends her time in prayer and meditation at the government quarantine center in Delhi.“I accept God’s will. I am not afraid of death if that is what God wants,” the Sisters of Destitute nun, whose identity cannot be disclosed legally, told Sister Celine, a council member of the congregation’s Santidham province based in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Sister Celine, who is in touch with the quarantined nun, told Matters India on April 29 that her companion was tested positive for coronavirus infection on April 28. She now stays at a government-managed quarantine center at Delhi’s Narela area.

Earlier, Archbishop Kuriakose Bharanikulangara of Faridabad urged his people to pray in a special for the infected nun. The convent where the nun lived comes under the Syro-Malabar diocese. All parishes have conducted special prayers and adoration to obtain God’s grace to deal with corona pandemic.

According to Sister Celine, the infected nun was afraid and panicky when a government ambulance came suddenly on April 28 to pick her from their convent in Jahangirpuri, a slum area in Delhi’s northern region.

“But now she has been well settled and mentally prepared to face whatever comes ahead,” said Sister Celine and added that the quarantined nun has a separate room at center.

Some unidentified people on April 17 disrupted a Christian NGO’s distribution of food kits among those affected by the nationwide lockdown in western Uttar Pradesh.

“We were distributing provision for about 3,000 families in Electronic City in the Sector 62 of Noida when a mob disrupted our work. Seeing the crowd the police asked us to wind up and we complied,” said Indian Missionary Society Father Joson John Tharakan, director of the Board for Research Education and Development (BREAD).

The Noida-based NGO is managed by the Delhi province of the Indian Missionary Society. It supports some 40,000 school children in six states with education and meals.

The Federation of Telugu Churches (FTC), the apex body various Christian denominations in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, on April 4 offered its institutions to the governments of the two states to use during the time of coronavirus pandemic.

In separate letters addressed to the chief ministers of the two states, the ecumenical body says the administration could use hospitals, schools, training centres and church campus to shelter the homeless and migrant, store provisions or for quarantine purposes.

This is being done to augment the government’s efforts to contain Covid-19, says the letter, signed by the federation’s executive secretaries –Father Anthoniraj Thumma of the Catholic Church and B. Danam, a retired Protestant government officer.

The letter explains officials of districts in the states could avail these institutions and centres with permission from their managements “without any hindrance to their regular work, daily routine and usual activities.”

The federation also asks the governments to return the centres after use in good condition and after sanitizing.

People who believe in a good and rational God should not worry too much about the coronavirus pandemic, says a Catholic priest who has played a key role in the educational scenario of northeastern India.

“Our future is filled with wonderful new possibilities. God is alive in His creation and is with us everywhere,” says Father V M Thomas, former head of the Salesians’ Guwahati province and the person behind setting up of Don Bosco Group of institutions in northeastern India.

The renowned professor of business administration sees new meaning for the changes arising from the coronavirus pandemic that has affected nearly 210 countries in the world. He says Resurrection of Jesus promises that things can be new again. “We just need courage, show boldness, hold on to our faith and live life to the full despite the gloom and constraints. I pray that we experience newness of life and live in hope,” he adds.

God, who created the universe, is supreme intelligence and love and those who believe him should not worry too much about the present crisis.

The priest spoke to the Sentinel newspaper of Assam as the Christian community in northeastern India celebrated Easter confined to their homes as they were kept out of churches because of the ongoing lockdown.

Abp John Moolachira of Guwahati, head of the Catholic Church in the region, to the Sentinel that all churches had no participation of the faithful who had abided by the lock-down guidelines. Easter this year fell on April 12.

“We have asked them to imagine that they are in the church participating in the holy sacrifice of the Mass. I am happy that people responded by praying at home.”

Abp Moolachira, the chair-man of North East Regional Catholic Bishops Council, has appealed the Christian community as well as the people from all faiths to pray seeking God’s intervention to make the world free from coronavirus.

Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, has advised his people to refrain from scheduling ceremonies like wedding, baptism and first communion immediately after India lifts the 21-lockdown on April 14.

“Please do not schedule any baptisms, first communions and marriages immediately after April 14. It would not be prudent to so do,” the cardinal stated in his latest address to his people.

According to him, all those ceremonies would have to be postponed if the lockdown continues.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed the lockdown from March 25 as part of the nation’s efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

As on April 5, India said the deaths from the coronavirus reached 77, while the number of diagnosed cases is 3,374.

Health officials said 3,030 cases are active and 267 patients have been discharged from hospitals. Most cases have been reported in the states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 79,950 samples have been tested as of April 4 at 9 p.m.

Experts believe actual cases could be higher in the country of 1.3 billion.

Since appearing in Wuhan, China, on December 31, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 181 countries and regions.