Although there is no Mass during the pandemic, priests are not waiting with their arms crossed. Stefano Dubini, for instance, is chaplain at the Giovanni XXIII hospital in Bergamo, the epicenter of the pandemic.
FRIAR STEFANO DUBINI
Chaplain, Giovanni XXIII Hospital, Bergamo (Italy)
“Sometimes you stand in the doorway of the room where the sick are, and you give them a blessing from there. Other times, you cover yourself from head to toe, like the doctors and nurses, and you approach the bed, maintaining a prudent distance. Then you administer the anointing of the sick to those who have asked for it. A relative or a nurse calls us and says, 'Please, can you come?'”
Every Thursday, Friar Stefano walks through the hospital's hallways connecting the different rooms. From there he gives blessings with the Eucharist.
FRIAR STEFANO DUBINI
Chaplain, Giovanni XXIII Hospital, Bergamo (Italy)
“When they see the monstrance, many people stop, cross themselves, pray or ask for a blessing. From patients and visitors, to doctors and nurses. They stop and look at you. You turn toward them and bless them. They cross themselves. Even this sort of human modesty, which usually holds faith as something reserved, is calmly overcome.”
The coronavirus obligates everyone to cover their faces and thus, only see each other's eyes. For the hospital chaplain, this is not an obstacle, but an opportunity.
FRIAR STEFANO DUBINI
Chaplain, Giovanni XXIII Hospital, Bergamo (Italy)
“Their gazes reveal compassion, hope, faith, prayer, blessing. 'Father, after you bless that person, can you bless us too?' 'Of course!' 'Father, I can't take it anymore.' 'You can do it!' and I bless them. Truly, one feels a very strong, tight human bond. I think—or at least hope—it is the first building block for the post-coronavirus world.”
He is struck by the way doctors and nurses collaborate to help patients beat the virus. He says this capacity to work together is the most important lesson for rebuilding society.
