By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi, June 16, 2020: Cardinal Charles Bo, head of the Catholic Church in Asia, on June 16 expressed shock over the hospitalization of Archbishop Moses M. Costa of Chittagong in Bangladesh with Covid-19 related issues.
“The news comes as a shock because the archbishop has been a proactive prelate working tirelessly for the welfare of his sheep during the lockdown,” the Salesian Cardinal wrote in a message to Asian Catholics.
Holy Cross Archbishop Costa has tested positive for COVID-19 and is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Dhaka.
The 70-year-old prelate is the first known Covid-19 case among senior Catholic clergy in Bangladesh.
Chittagong Catholic Archdiocese secretary Manik Willver D’Costa said that on June 13 the prelate was admitted to Square Hospital in serious condition and tested COVID-19 positive the next day.
He said that Archbishop Costa’s health condition had not improved rather worsened, adding that, he was on oxygen support.
Cardinal Bo offered the entire Asian Church’s prayers for the archbishop speedy recovery.
“On behalf of all the bishops and faithful of Asia we raise our hands to Jesus Our Lord to stretch out his healing hands, blessing our very dear Archbishop, bestowing on him total cure,” he wrote in the letter.
The Yangon-based cardinal on behalf of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) assured Archbishop Costa prayers of “thousands of faithful whose genuine love for you is expressed through their relentless pleading with our Lord. Your Grace will overcome this challenge through the power of prayers.”
The FABC president also said the Lord will give the archbishop “total cure and we as Church in Asia accompany you every minute with our prayers.”
Archbishop Costa is the secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh and the chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Healthcare Commission.
Archbishop Costa was appointed bishop of Chattogram (Chittagong) in 2011 and became an archbishop when Pope Francis elevated Chattogram, known as the cradle of Catholicism in Bangladesh, to an archdiocese in 2017.
He served as the bishop of Dinajpur from 1996 to 2011.
Chattogram was among the first of the eight Catholic dioceses in Bangladesh to issue Covid-19 health guidelines and closed all churches for public liturgy even before Bangladesh declared a nationwide shutdown from March 26.
Bangladesh lifted the shutdown on May 31 and since then all dioceses except Chattogram have opened churches for public liturgy including Masses.
Manik said that Costa maintained strict lockdown measures since March, but he still became infected.
More than 30 Christians have been infected and five have died in recent weeks, he added.