ARUA DIOCESE VICAR GENERAL RAISES CONCERN OVER EBOLA, CALLS FOR ADHERENCE TO DIRECTIVES

The front view of Ediofe Cathedral Church under Arua diocese.

 By Erema George

Arua City

The vicar general of Arua Diocese who is also the Parish priest of Ediofe Parish, Msgr. Casto Adeti has called on the Christians to treat Ebola as a serious health concern emphasizing on adherence to the directives of the church.

Msgr. expressed the concern while addressing Christians at Ediofe Cathedral on 31st May after the Sunday Mass. The vicar general called on the Christians not to take the existence of the disease lightly noting that prevention is better than cure.

“Ebola outbreak is a very serious issue, many of us take it lightly just because they’ve not seen anybody die of Ebola but the issue is real, prevention is better than cure and we are saying let us prevent it, it has killed hundreds of people in Congo already and we who are bordering Congo, we are very vulnerable, our boarders are very porous, people move up and down, we have Arua regional referral hospital where people come from different parts of this country especially Congo and Sudan. So we should take care,” Msgr. Adeti cautioned.

Recently the ministry of health issued directives to different institutions in order to contain the disease. Msgr. Adeti added that, there’s need to abide by the temporary directives to contain the spread of the disease with much emphasis on avoiding body contact and observe alternative ways for greeting and receiving the holy Communion.

He noted that, “there are some people who do not believe in receiving Holy Communion in the hands, I don’t know why. It has been declared by the Bishop, there’s the option of receiving from your tongue and also from your hand but for the case of Ebola, we are saying stop receiving from the mouth directly, you receive in the hands. When Ebola issue will be over, you can use the other option if you want. This should be observed by us all,”

Ebola can spread during the celebration of Holy Communion primarily through direct or indirect contact with contaminated saliva, sweat, or blood. While the virus is not airborne, the traditional ways of administering the Holy Communion creates pathways for transmission if an infected, symptomatic person attends the service.

His concern underscores the role the Catholic Church plays in the fight against the fast spreading Bundibugyo Ebola Virus strain, from person to person through direct, unprotected physical contact.