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I join my prayers to those of @DeaconGregK and everyone praying for a speedy and full recovery for @MsgrPope, who is in self-isolation after being diagnosed with COVID-19.
In June I encountered Msgr. when he led a rosary walk that stopped at my parish... https://twitter.com/DeaconGregK/status/1288800696427577345
In June I encountered Msgr. when he led a rosary walk that stopped at my parish... https://twitter.com/DeaconGregK/status/1288800696427577345
... I was distressed he wasn't masked. He was talking with my pastor, who was masked, & his group were in a crowded area where my parish was giving refreshments to people in town for the anti-racism march. But he said he wasn't comfortable wearing one ... https://twitter.com/DawnofMercy/status/1269392639788486657
... Msgr. Pope has repeatedly mocked Catholics for "cowering" in fear of COVID. He's written two @NCRegister op-eds on the topic & complained of such fear on @EWTN's @worldoverdc and the Morning Glory radio show. Here he compares COVID to the flu: https://www.ncregister.com/blog/msgr-pope/be-not-afraid ...
...The very morning he got his COVID-19 test result, he said on Morning Glory that half the Catholics avoiding Mass in these COVID times (when the bishop has granted a dispensation) are doing so because they're "lukewarm." See the 7-27 show at 6:25: https://www.ewtn.com/radio/shows/morning-glory ...
...In that Morning Glory episode, Msgr. Pope says he has asthma, which can complicate COVID. Now he's revealed he has COVID with symptoms. His parish says "he is recuperating and getting better each day": https://hcscchurch.org/coronavirus-covid-19-update/. But, as he says on his blog, it's "serious" ...
...Given Msgr. Pope's scorn for precautions, while we pray for his healing, it's reasonable to ask some questions, such as--
-- Why did he get tested? Did he have symptoms or know he'd be exposed?
-- Did he celebrate Sunday Mass while awaiting test results? ...
-- Why did he get tested? Did he have symptoms or know he'd be exposed?
-- Did he celebrate Sunday Mass while awaiting test results? ...
... How long was Msgr. Pope walking around without showing symptoms?
-- How many people did he expose to the virus?
His parish's website doesn't answer these questions, though it gives a nonworking URL and an incomplete phone number for the DC board of health. ...
-- How many people did he expose to the virus?
His parish's website doesn't answer these questions, though it gives a nonworking URL and an incomplete phone number for the DC board of health. ...
... I hope that, once Msgr. Pope fully recovers, he refrains from mocking those who are taking prudent precautions. He should take a cue from his own @WashArchbishop, who does not deride those who are taking advantage of his dispensation as "lukewarm" Catholics. ...
... In particular, I hope Msgr. Pope no longer takes the derisive tone he took in his most recent op-ed on the virus, where he wrote, in a direct attack on those being prudent, "Fear is a far more serious ailment than COVID-19" ( https://www.ncregister.com/blog/msgr-pope/be-not-afraid). That is bad theology. ...
... We are called as Catholics to protect life. Although Msgr. Pope is correct that bodily death is not the Christian's greatest fear, nobody has the right to inflict bodily harm upon another through carelessness or imprudence--such as avoiding wearing a mask. ...
... If we, in willful imprudence or willful carelessness, expose others to possible illness or death, we will be accountable to God. Moreover, our own bodies and earthly lives are precious. God doesn't permit us to be careless with them.
Praying for Msgr. Pope and all the sick.
Praying for Msgr. Pope and all the sick.
