A relative of a person who died of COVID-19 is consoled by another during the cremation in Jammu, Indian-administered Kashmir. [Channi Anand/AP Photo]
The number of Church leaders lost to Covid-19 in India has reached an all-time high.
Bibles For The World (BFTW), an organisation that trains Christian leaders at Bible colleges within the country told Mission Network News “there are over 125 significant church leaders that have passed due to COVID, or are in critical condition in ICU right now.”
These deaths are “going to create a tremendous vacuum in the body of Christ,” said Mr John L. Pudaite, President of BFTW. “We don’t have that many leaders across the country as a whole. We’re going to be facing some tough challenges in the years ahead,” he added.
Churches are temporarily closed for public worship, but remain open for private visits.
“Pray like never before for the Body of Christ on the frontline dealing with this pandemic, especially those in Christian health care, medical ministries,” Mr John L. Pudaite said.
On 24 April, Vatican News reported 14 Catholic priests were lost to Covid-19 in 4 days.
The nation of nearly 1.4 billion people set a global record of new daily cases top 300,000 for a fifth straight day on Monday. Delhi, the country’s hardest-hit city, extended its weeklong lockdown as hospitals struggled with a shortage of beds and oxygen supplies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on April 20 that the second wave of the coronavirus hit India “like a storm”, but called on states to put in place a lockdown measure only as a last resort. In his address to the nation, the prime minister stressed the self-discipline and personal responsibility of every citizen to contain the pandemic.
“We completely let down our guard and assumed in January that the pandemic was over—and COVID surveillance and control took a back seat,” said K. Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India. But “there were still a fairly large proportion of people in the big cities, but also in smaller cities and villages, who were not exposed to the virus last year, who were susceptible.”
“We kept warning that the pandemic was not over but no one was listening,” said Rakesh Mishra, senior principal scientist and director of the Hyderabad-based Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology, who is currently investigating whether a new homegrown variant—B.1.617—is behind India’s second surge.
“The surge took us by surprise and the system is now totally overwhelmed,” added Mishra. Reportedly, Indians are being turned away from vaccination centers because supplies have run out.
Most affected by this new wave are middle class nationals: according to the Pew Research Center, about 32 million people in India fall into the category of poverty due to the pandemic in 2020.
Mission Network News revealed that Christians in this nation are braving the pandemic to meet medical needs in Christ’s name, pointing patients to the Great Physician.
Christian churches of all denominations are engaged in a vast relief effort, supporting the most vulnerable with local resources and providing food to hungry people who lost their livelihoods due to the lockdown.
The government had initially ordered that the distribution of food and essential goods be carried out exclusively through official networks, causing a stalemate in the humanitarian work of churches and NGOs. Subsequently, a court ruled that it is sufficient for civil society entities to inform the government of the humanitarian work performed, provided that social distances and health safety protocols are respected.
News Agencies contributed to this report.
