CCBI Resources for Covid-19, November 6, 2020
Dear Friends of CCBI, In Canada, the surge in numbers of COVID-19 cases has meant…
CCBI Resources for COVID-19 Matters – May 13, 2020
Dear Friends,
This whole week is dedicated to honouring nurses in Canada, although a week is not nearly enough! It does provide a good opportunity, however, to thank our nurses for all they have done and continue to do for us during this pandemic. Nursing is truly a vocation as well as a profession, and our nurses’ ongoing selflessness and care for their patients is a wonderful witness to their fortitude and sense of priorities.
Pope Francis honoured nurses at Mass on Tuesday morning:
Thanks are also due to all those who continue to provide care in many different ways in our long term care facilities, where failure to ensure the protection of some of our most vulnerable people continues to be sadly obvious. Matters have at least improved somewhat, with better equipment for staff being supplied, with more isolation measures, and with many volunteers from various sectors stepping in to assist. These generous people deserve our gratitude. It is heart breaking to hear about the trials of the elderly separated from their families, yet it is encouraging to see pictures of those who manage to find a way to communicate with them. If nothing else, this pandemic should stir us into caring for our elderly as a priority, and we must not let it fall to the bottom of the list of post-pandemic reforms.
It was recently announced that the first homeless person in Canada suffering from the virus had died. Requiescat in pace! We have attached an appeal from Journey Home Hospice, whose aim is to provide palliative care for homeless people. This is a timely and necessary corporal work of mercy, and, knowing that some of our CCBI supporters already support this venture, we encourage others to do so. Part of CCBI’s mission is to educate people about palliative care and to emphasize it as a human need, for all Canadians. Journey Home Hospice’s mission is to provide care for the homeless sector, one of the most marginalized groups in society, clearly putting into practice the preferential option for the poor, in accordance with Catholic Social Teaching.
Another issue we are considering this week is the effect of trauma on those who work with people who have died, or who have suffered severe illness or violence. Lieutenant-General (Ret’d) Roméo Dallaire and Dr Shelly Whitman wrote an article (below) about help available for such affected people through their foundation, ‘Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative.’ The Foundation offers “… the unique approach to how we work to train and build the capacity of police and the military, and influence policy that protects children as much as it protects personnel. It is our belief that this approach can also be applied to help those who are suffering from moral injuries during the COVID-19 pandemic here at home.” There are clearly many current areas of concern, and one is that our helpers may need help, post-pandemic or post-traumatic, and they, too, need help and treatment.
Our Lady, Help of the Sick, pray for us!
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us on this your feast day!
Moira McQueen, LLB, MDiv, PhD
Executive Director, Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute
Lecturer, Faculty of Theology
University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto
The Globe and Mail
Globe editorial: Canada’s pandemic record is good, but we failed when it came to protecting seniors homes – The Globe and Mail<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-canadas-pandemic-record-is-good-but-we-failed-when-it-came-to/>
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed two different Canadas: one that has done better than many other countries at limiting the spread of the coronavirus in the general population; and another that …
www.theglobeandmail.com<http://www.theglobeandmail.com>
Journey Home Hospice
https://www.ccbi-utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/JourneyHomeHospice_Capital_Campaign_2020.pdf