Brazil is to receive emergency aid from a leading Catholic Charity as the coronavirus crisis deepens there, with the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world.
Brazil, the largest country in Latin America, has a population of 210 million people, many of whom live in conditions of poverty. The coronavirus outbreak there has become one of the worst in the world, with 775,581 Brazilians diagnosed with the virus, of whom 39,803 have died.
The impact of the pandemic and concomitant lockdown measures upon the Brazilian economy has also undermined the work of the Church in that country, with income falling by over 60% in some parishes. Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), a leading Catholic charity, has announced 11 new projects in Brazil in response to this, focussed on supporting the work of priests, religious and lay missionaries.
In total, the projects will aid 169 priests, 141 Sisters, 31 seminarians and 56 lay missionaries, all of whom are engaged in work supporting their communities during the pandemic. Many of these projects involve the collection and distribution of food and other essential supplies to the neediest, who have been hit hardest by the disruption caused by the pandemic.
Father Francisco Silva, the treasurer for the diocese of Itapipoca, told ACN that although his diocese had stepped up fundraising efforts in order to aid those hurt by the crisis, it was now getting “very difficult” to secure financial support. Fr Silva explained that, by this point in the pandemic, very few people in his diocese had money to spare, and welcomed the help overseas charities offered. Ceara, the province of Brazil Itapipoca diocese is located in, has been especially badly affected by the coronavirus outbreak, with 71,402 cases of coronavirus recorded there, and 4,480 deaths.
Brazil recently had more new coronavirus-related deaths than any other nation, leading commentators to speculate that the true scope of the pandemic there is underestimated by official figures. More than 37,000 people have died of the virus in Brazil, the third-highest death toll internationally. The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics has claimed that Brazil could surpass the U.S. to become the country with the most overall coronavirus deaths by the end of July.
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