Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai has explained the confusion that resulted in some laypeople leading funeral rites and accusing their parish priests of not attending the last ceremonies of Covid-19 victims.
The cardinal’s statement came after the media published reports about lay Catholics leading funeral prayers and blessing graves to bury their family members. The reports also accused priests of refusing to bury Covid-19 victims for fear of contracting the virus.

“The archdiocese wishes to make clear that from the very beginning of the lockdown” on March 25, the clergy have been “responding to funeral requests with care and compassion,” the cardinal said in a June 26 statement.

He said the archdiocese had asked parishes not to have public requiem Masses. It also asked for bodies to be taken directly to the burial ground “where all the funeral prayers can be said before the burial.”
Directions also advised limiting the number of mourners to the minimum and keeping police informed of the funeral. In a video message, Cardinal Gracias also asked his priests not to visit houses because of the lockdown rules. “There was no direction to the priests to keep away from funerals,” Fr Nigel Barrett, spokesperson of Cardinal Gracias, told UCA News on June 28.

There must have been “rare incidents of some priests failing to arrive at a cemetery” but “most of our priests attend funerals with sensitivity and compassion,” he said.