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VATICAN CITY, March 13 (Reuters) – Catholics criticised a cardinal’s order to close churches in Rome on Friday to help contain the spread of coronavirus and Pope Francis cautioned against “drastic measures”.

Some took to social media to rail against the move by Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, accusing him of caving in to the government. One said the move had put “Christ in quarantine”.

Catholic bishops around the world were deciding how to deal with the pandemic in their own dioceses and what guidance they should give to the 1.3 billion-member Church in places from Little Rock to Lyon.

“Drastic measures are not always good,” the pope said in improvised remarks at the start of his morning Mass, which has been streamed on the internet and televised live without outside participants in order to limit gatherings of people.

Francis prayed that God give pastors “the strength and even the capacity to choose the best means to help” those suffering from the pandemic “so that they can provide measures that do not leave the holy faithful people of God alone”.

On Thursday, De Donatis, the pope’s vicar for the Rome archdiocese, ordered the more than 900 Catholic churches under his jurisdiction closed until April 3.

Previously, only Masses had been cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak. Individual bishops can decide whether to keep their churches open or closed and many are open in parts of Italy.

The pope is bishop of Rome and the cardinal is his administrative vicar. It was not clear if De Donatis had sought the pope’s approval for the move.

The Italian government on Wednesday closed virtually every commercial activity in the country apart from pharmacies, food shops and other stores selling essential goods and services.

Customers must enter a few at a time, keep a safe distance from each other and wear surgical masks in some cases.

Critics say being allowed to pray in a church, albeit with precautions similar to those imposed on stores, should be seen as an essential service.

“My heart is in pieces,” Father Maurizio Mirilli, a pastor of a Rome parish said on Twitter. “I have to close everything, even the church … I feel like a father whose children have been snatched from him.”

“Churches closed in the capital of Christianity is a wound that will be hard for us to forget,” tweeted Gaetano Strano. “The Church is independent from the state and was not obliged to adhere to government norms.” (Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Source: Reuters

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ANALYSIS

It’s easy to panic in times of great uncertainty, like with the growing concern over the novel coronavirus, formally named COVID-19. We should all take necessary precautions, following the instructions given to us by medical experts.

We should also remember that, no matter the situation, nothing happens outside God’s control or care. Scripture calls the Lord our “rock,” our “fortress,” and our “deliverer” (Psalm 18:2). Some 72 years ago, the great C.S. Lewis reminded his readers of those truths, calming fears over an atomic bomb.

FAITHWIRE  Corona Chaos: We Can Be Concerned, But Christians Should Not Be Shaken

Those words are just as appropriate now, regarding COVID-19. The following is an excerpt from an essay Lewis wrote in the 1940s, which is now found in a collection of his works called “Present Concerns.”

In one way, we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.

Lewis is not the only one with wise words in the middle of panic.

The 16th century theologian Martin Luther had this to say during the bubonic plague, offering his thoughts on how best to practically and spiritually overcome.

You ought to think this way: “Very well, by God’s decree, the enemy has sent us poison and deadly offal. Therefore, I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person, but will go freely.”

As I wrote earlier this week, as Christians, it is OK to be concerned, particularly if we are in an at-risk class or love someone who is, like the elderly and those who are immunocompromised.

But we don’t need to be gripped with fear, because the Lord has given us a spirit “of power, love, and self-discipline” and has encouraged us to “pray about everything,” telling him what we are scared of, worried about, and dwelling on (2 Timothy 1:7, Philippians 4:6).

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Here’s how Daniel Whyte III will be praying during the coronavirus pandemic-plague:

1. Praying and asking God to be thorough with His church. 1 Peter 4:17 says, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” A. J. Gordon prayed, “Be thorough with me, Jesus; be thorough with me.”

2. Praying for Christians: 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

3. Praying that Christians would begin witnessing to the lost: Luke 10:2 says, “Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.”

4. Praying for the salvation of the lost: John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Romans 10:9-13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

George Atkins wrote:

Brethren we have met to worship
And adore the Lord our God
Will you pray with all your power
While we try to preach the Word
All is vain unless the Spirit
Of the Holy One comes down
Brethren pray and holy manna
Will be showered all around

Brethren see poor sinners ’round you
Slumbering on the brink of woe
Death is coming hell is moving
Can you bear to let them go
See our fathers and our mothers
And our children sinking down
Brethren pray and holy manna
Will be showered all around

Sisters will you join to help us
Moses’ sister aided him
Will you help the trembling mourners
Who are struggling hard with sin
Tell them all about the Saviour
Tell them that He will be found
Sisters pray and holy manna
Will be showered all around

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Now, if you are with us today, and you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, your first prayer needs to be what we call the Sinner’s Prayer. First, please understand that you are a sinner, just as I am, and that you have broken God’s laws. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”

Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Now this is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.

Romans 10:9 & 13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your Salvation today, please pray with me this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.

If you just trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, and you prayed that prayer and meant it from your heart, I declare to you that based upon the Word of God, you are now saved from Hell and you are on your way to Heaven. Welcome to the family of God! Congratulations on trusting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. You have done the most important thing in life. For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”

God loves you. We love you. And may God bless you.

Daniel Whyte III has spoken in meetings across the United States and in over twenty-five foreign countries. He is the author of over forty books including the Essence Magazine, Dallas Morning News, and Amazon.com national bestseller, Letters to Young Black Men. He is also the president of Gospel Light Society International, a worldwide evangelistic ministry that reaches thousands with the Gospel each week, as well as president of Torch Ministries International, a Christian literature ministry.

He is heard by thousands each week on his radio broadcasts/podcasts, which include: The Prayer Motivator Devotional, The Prayer Motivator Minute, as well as Gospel Light Minute X, the Gospel Light Minute, the Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message, the Prophet Daniel’s Report, the Second Coming Watch Update and the Soul-Winning Motivator, among others.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from Bethany Divinity College, a Bachelor’s degree in Religion from Texas Wesleyan University, a Master’s degree in Religion, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Master of Theology degree from Liberty University’s Rawlings School of Divinity (formerly Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary). He is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry degree.

He has been married to the former Meriqua Althea Dixon, of Christiana, Jamaica since 1987. God has blessed their union with seven children.

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