Geriatrician Federico De Luca is seen with Dr. Cinzia Gambarini as he sits up in bed after recovering from COVID-19 at the Circolo hospital in Varese, Italy.
Photo: CNS A group of doctors in Tuscany has received a bishop’s permission to distribute Holy Communion to those infected by the coronavirus.
Bishop Giovanni Nerbini of Prato made the six doctors extraordinary eucharistic ministers, allowing them to give Communion to over 100 patients on Easter, according to Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishops’ conference.
Dr Filippo Risaliti, one of the six doctors who distributed the Eucharist, said the idea was inspired by Pope Francis’ call for doctors and medical professionals “to play the role of intermediaries of the church for people who are suffering”.
“We are the only ones who could do it, since only we can enter those rooms,” he said.
“I cried with the patients. Hospitals are places of care, but we can’t think of separating the body from the spirit.”
He added: “They are lonely, suffering people, not only in body but also in soul.”
Dr Risaliti said he and the other doctors understood the suffering the patients endure due “to isolation from affection and from relatives”.
Protective gear
Dressed in protective gear, the hospital chaplain, Fr Carlo Bergamaschi, accompanied the doctors distributing Communion.
The priest carried a ciborium filled with consecrated hosts, which were individually separated by gauze pads to avoid contamination.
For patients who were on respirators and unable to physically receive the Eucharist, the doctors read a prayer at their bedside.
“It was one of the most beautiful experiences I have lived in my life as a man, as a Christian and as a doctor,” said Dr Lorenzo Guarducci