Liberia: Catholic Prelate Cautions Parishioners to Believe in Science in Covid-19 Fight

Paynesville — The head of the St. Kizito Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of Monrovia, the Reverend Father Ambrose D. Kroma has cautioned his congregation to strictly adhere to all safety measures imposed by the Parish in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Delivering his homily recently, Father Kroma emphasized that COVID-19 is real and its combat should be based on science and not faith.

“Please, in the Church, let’s keep the protocols. The virus is real, it mutates, it can change,” he cautioned.

He continued: “Ebola is in Conakry, we should be more concerned. Keep the protocols. It is God alone in his mercy who will raid our world with the virus, but don’t put God to the test. God heals through Christ, but God didn’t say you should go blindly. This is about science, it is not about faith. Others who passed, they got faith, others who are being infected they get faith. Lets’ do away with that Liberian bible verse that says seeing is believing.”

Father Kroma’s message comes in the wake of a recent finding from a survey conducted by Afrobarometer, a pan African, nonpartisan survey research network, which revealed that 86 percent of people interviewed (nine out of ten persons) said prayer is more effective than a vaccine would be in preventing COVID-19 infections.

It also come on the back of a ‘disturbing’ news of an outbreak of Ebola in neighboring Guinea and the discovery of new strands of coronavirus in several parts of the world including Europe and South Africa.

At the start of his homily, Father Kroma told the congregation of an encounter he had with an advancing vender at a gas station in Monrovia who questioned his faith because he told him to keep a distance.

With these precarious development, the Catholic Prelate, during his sermon, warned that it is now time for Liberians to be more cautious by adhering to the safety measures and called on all parishioners and visitors attending any of the Church’s worship activities to wear masks at all times, wash their hands and observe social distance.

He added that the pandemic continues to ravage the world, killing thousands of people and infecting millions, many of whom, he said have faith.

The St. Kizito Catholic Church is one of the largest catholic congregations with in the Archdiocese of Monrovia and boost a service attendance of more than 1,000 people every Sunday. In adherence to the health authorities’ mandate, the Church, under the supervision of Father Kroma, has instituted several stringent measures aimed at protecting its members from contracting the virus.

Some of these measures include constant hand washing, use of face masks and shields, measuring temperatures and conducting multiple services/masses on Sundays to reduce the overcrowding of the Church.

The Church has also suspended some of its liturgical and charitable activities such as serving communion to housebound parishioners at their various homes and visitation to the prisons, among others.

However, in order to reach out to thousands of its parishioners, Catholics and Christians in Liberia and across the world, the church, with support from its media team, broadcasts every mass and other church activities live via it social media platforms including Facebook.

It can be recalled that throughout 2020, the Church, through its Charity and Welfare Committee identified with some of its parishioners and several communities in Paynesville including Outland, Soul Clinic and Shara, distributing food items and other assorted supplies including sanitary materials.

The gesture, the Church said was also part of its corporal works of mercy, which calls for feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, visiting the imprisoned, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick and burying the dead.

Since its establishment on June 3, 1982 the St. Kizito Catholic Church, through the catholic faith continues to evangelize, reach out and touch the lives of thousand Liberians, including non-Catholics at home and abroad.

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