Respiratory-related deaths shake Catholic church in Tanzania

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania

The Catholic Church in Tanzania has said that more than 25 priests, 60 sisters and two elders of the laity have died within two months of various causes including respiratory challenges.

The General Secretary of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC), Father Charles Kitima (pictured above) has disclosed the news in Dar es Salaam city on Wednesday March 3.

The TEC is a permanent assembly of the Bishops in Tanzania.

Father Kitima made the remarks while addressing the press on various issues, especially the Covid-19 epidemic, urging church members to continue taking precautions against the disease in accordance with health ministry guidelines.

In a statement, Kitima, who served as Vice Chancellor of St. Augustine University, said the deaths occurred from mid-December to February this year in different parts of the country.

"Please continue taking precautions against this disease by following the instructions of the Ministry of Health. Priests are dying and sisters are dying but this number within two months has shocked us especially considering the government has strengthened better health systems," said Kitima.

He said TEC President Gervas Nyaisonga had already distributed guidelines to bishops of various dioceses on measures to protect themselves against Covid-19 while providing pastoral services.

In the statement addressed to archbishops and retired bishops early January this year, Bishop Nyaisonga, said the measures put in place to control the spread of coronavirus last year showed signs of being successful.

The letter headlined ‘Caution against new coronavirus and Covid-19 infections’ said after successfully containing the spread of the virus last year, Tanzania was now facing a new wave of the virus spread.

“For last year, infections dropped and we believed that we had won the war against Covid-19,” the letter read, noting that currently, a number of countries have reported new infections which have resulted into deaths of people in their countries.

“Our country is not an island. We have every reason to take precautions and pray to God so that we can move unscathed in this pandemic,” the letter read.  

He said it was about time the church instructed its followers to make use of all available means to protect themselves against the virus, including prayers, social distancing, hand washing and sanitizing time after time.

Last February, the President of Tanzania, John Magufuli, urged its citizens to take preventive measures against the coronavirus after downplaying the disease for months and claiming it had been defeated by prayers.

Speaking during a Sunday church mass in the capital city Dodoma, Magufuli urged citizens of the East African country to take precautions and wear face masks; but only locally made ones.

Over the course of the pandemic, Magufuli has expressed wariness about foreign-made goods, including covid-19 vaccines.

A few hours later, the health ministry issued a statement also calling on people to wear face masks and wash their hands to prevent covid-19 infections.

The president’s comments came a day after the World Health Organization’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged Tanzania to take “robust action” to tackle the outbreak in the country as “the situation remains very concerning”.

The call for action came after a number of Tanzanians travelling to neighbouring countries and beyond tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a statement issued by the WHO.

Others recently expressing concern include the United States and the local Catholic church.

The country of 60 million people mourned the death of one of its highest-profile politicians, the Vice President of the semi-autonomous island region of Zanzibar, Seif Shariff Hamad, whose infection with covid-19 had been announced by his political party.

Magufuli’s Chief Secretary also died in recent days, though the cause was not revealed. - Africa