Human Ritual Disrupted

Humans need to mourn the passing of significant people in their lives. Mourning well helps survivors negotiate the absence of those who were close to them. The pandemic has upended what “is critical to our emotional wellbeing. Could remote mourning be enough?” asks National Geographic environment writer, Craig Welch.

Gathering together to mark the passing of loved ones is critical to our emotional wellbeing. Could remote mourning be enough? https://t.co/Y1XE2HCQ06

— National Geographic (@NatGeo) April 20, 2020

Front Lines

Health care professionals are working over overtime everywhere. They face very steep challenges and deep shortages. Pope Francis has called nurses “experts in humanity.” Doctors, and all “medical caregivers and the authorities…are pillars, who help us go forward, and defend us in this crisis.”

Hospital chaplains are vital caregivers, too. They are having to protect themselves and the patients they serve by praying “through glass” instead of personal contact. Chaplains are attending more to medical staffs. America Magazine published brief accounts of four chaplains in different areas in the United States.

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