CORONAVIRUS Can a priest come to the hospital? The rules are clear! The church also took steps – Topky.sk

Priest Marek Vadrna recently shared the story of a coronavirus patient’s visit on a social network. “I have just returned from the hospital, anointed a middle-aged patient on artificial lung ventilation in a very serious condition. As I was leaving, the sister-in-law told me:” Mr. Chaplain … ím In the face of death I say to ourselves, that we should go into eternity when our time comes, and not through our own doing. ” stated. He added that the man he was with could have been in his fifties and his grandson had just been born.

For many believers, the priest’s visit to the bed is important. Regulations also mean that. The Public Health Office stated that the ban on visits to inpatient wards of medical facilities does not apply to priests who go to the hospital for the purpose of administering the sacrament of anointing to the seriously ill and dying, according to the currently valid decree. However, visits are required to comply with the anti-epidemic measures set by the medical facility itself.

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Eva Kliská, a spokeswoman for the University Hospital in Bratislava, specified that a visit to a priest in order to administer the sacrament of Holy Communion or the anointing of the seriously ill and dying is possible, but the priest must be vaccinated.

However, it is not only valid regulations and hospitals that meet the needs of believing patients. The church itself took steps in this direction. “We have trained priests throughout the territory who know how to use protective clothing and all the necessary equipment, and are available when you need to go to the covid ward,” said Martin Kramara, spokesman for the Conference of Bishops of Slovakia.