A Catholic diocese in the western Indian state of Gujarat has appealed to priests and followers to cremate people who die from Covid-19.
Bishop Athanasius Rethna Swamy of Ahmedabad in a pastoral letter dated April 12 said that the “present situation poses a challenge to the Church in administering the last rites to the departed ones in a dignified manner. There are also issues of the dwindling space in our cemeteries.”
“In circumstances when cremation is chosen because of sanitary, economic or social considerations, this choice must never violate the explicitly stated or the reasonably inferable wishes of the deceased faithful,” Bishop Swamy’s letter said.