THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Gurgaon-Delhi bishop of Syro-Malankara Church Jacob Mar Barnabas was given ventilator support after his health condition deteriorated on Thursday morning in the Haryana district bordering the national capital. Bishop Barnabas, who is from Kerala, has been on treatment for Covid for the last one week.
As many as nine priests died of Covid in the state in the last ten days due to the nature of their work in the state and public appearances. Of them, six were from Syro-Malabar Church alone, one from CSI HMS Church and two from CSI South Kerala diocese. Not only in Kerala, several priests lost their lives after getting infected while rendering their services in different parts of the country. On Thursday, one more Christian priest on ventilator support died in the second wave of the pandemic in the country.
Bishop Basil Bhuria of Jhabua diocese in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, breathed his last at 1.10pm at St Francis Hospital, Indore. He had been under treatment for Covid-19 for the past one month. TNIE on Wednesday reported the disastrous situation of priests of various Churches who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2.
In the last one month, more than 15 priests from various Churches and dioceses died of Covid in India. As per the details available with ‘Matters India’, an online news portal of Catholic group, 14 Catholic priests in India succumbed to Covid between April 20 and 23 alone.