Regardless of religious denominations, a Catholic parish in Muntinlupa City has so far provided more than 11,000 food packs to more than 5,000 families as aid while the entire Luzon island is under a total lockdown to control the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Filipinos’ “heroic sacrifice and service” as well as “simple acts of appreciation and gratitude” manifest the hope that comes with the spirit of Christ’s victory over death, the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said in his Easter message.
“Because these are times wherein you’re made to realize that you’re not in charge.”
According to Pope Clement VI’s investigations, by 1351, 23,840,000 people had died of the plague in Catholic Europe—about 31 percent of its total population. From the episcopacy and clergy alone, 25 archbishops and 207 bishops had died, and many more clergymen. But there is no mention in Carroll’s narrative about the Church having to close its doors to any actual or potential victim of the plague seeking the grace and mercy of Christian salvation.
‘He who enters the conclave as pope, leaves it as a cardinal,’ the saying goes. But this may not necessarily be true with Filipino cardinal Luis Antonio ‘Chito’ Tagle, who has become ‘papabile’ now that he holds an important office at the Vatican.
