Cardinal Oswald Gracias, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, appealed to priests and followers in Bombay Archdiocese to follow BMC's instructions and cremate the bodies of Christians who die from COVID-19 rather than bury them.
Father Nigel Barrett, spokesman for the archdiocese said, "As per the direction of the cardinal, Christian people are supposed to cremate the bodies of victims of Covid-19, but if someone wants a burial, they have to follow the directions of the BMC as it has identified one place."
As per WHO guidelines, if a COVID-19 victim is buried, there are possibilities that the virus spreads through water sources but during cremation, the high temperature kills the virus and there is no further risk of it spreading.
Additionally, the archdiocese has requested pastors to not to allow more than five mourners at a funeral ceremony.
Father Gracias has encouraged people to follow the government guidelines during the time of pandemic and maintain social distancing and wash their hands continuously to reduce the spread of coronavirus, which has claimed around 83,506 lives around the world.
