Brazilian pastor brings prayers to COVID-19 patients

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Reverend Celio Ricardo has spent nearly two decades helping addicts get rid of crack cocaine. Now he is trying to provide spiritual support to the victims of another scourge that plagues Rio de Janeiro: COVID-19.

“The church cannot stand idly by or remain silent,” Ricardo said as he joined in singing hymns and prayers with a few dozen parishioners and relatives of COVID-19 victims outside of a hospital, raising his voice to the noise of traffic in a hospital. lively area on the north side of town.

“We were retreating, but now is the time to attack. Now is the time for the people to see that the church is there ready to open its hands and help.

According to official figures, more than 310,000 people have died in Brazil since the start of the pandemic, the second highest number behind the United States. With more than 36,000 dead alone, the state of Rio de Janeiro is one of the most affected in Brazil.

Ricardo has a long history of street preaching in the city. In addition to caring for his Evangelical Church of the Love of God, he runs a drug rehabilitation center and regularly ventures into the city’s “cracolandias” – the cracklands – to provide drug addicts with a bed in a shelter. fortune. And when he receives donations from local supermarkets, he also gives them food.

He decided to hold meetings around the corner for the families of COVID-19 victims about a week ago after discussing with other pastors new endemic cases invading hospitals in Rio. “The voice of God has the power to change the course of this situation,” Ricardo said. “I felt it in my heart.”

While experts say singing in closed spaces has been linked to some outbreaks of COVID-19 during the pandemic, Ricardo’s group prays outdoors, wears masks and circulates hand sanitizer.

Non-essential restaurants, bars and shops have been closed in Rio de Janeiro since March 26. Mayor Eduardo Paes this week announced new restrictions in an attempt to stop the rise in hospitalizations.

The pastor said the group had been welcomed by the families of the patients and intended to visit more hospitals.

“The Bible says to draw strength from weakness,” he said. “We sing and pray because our voice can bring assurance of God’s love to those who take their last breath.”