The Metropolitan Archbishop of the Cape Coast Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, Most Rev. Charles Palmer-Buckle, has rejected claims that the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus signifies the end of the world.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been met with a number of conspiracy theories including claims that 5G signals are being used to spread the virus.
Many others have also claimed that there is an apocalypse as the world is being shut down due to response to the pandemic.
Speaking on the Point of View on Citi TV, however, Rev. Palmer-Buckle called for restraint and encouraged citizens to use the outbreak for introspection of many of the good values in life.
“Christ, before he left, said, behold I am with you till the end. So he is here…He is in our midst already. With Jesus in our boat, we have no reason to fear. So whether it is apocalyptic, I am not worried. Jesus is with us. He is with us and God the Father is with us. Let the Holy Spirit enlighten us to live a life of love, sharing, forgiveness, goodness, honesty, co-responsibility and morality. So if we should die now, we know that we are with the Father because we have lived a very useful and worthy life. So I will not bother my head about whether the end is coming or not. I will bother my head about whether I am conscious of the fact that Jesus is in the boat and with Christ in the boat, we shall never sink. No,” he preached.
The novel Coronavirus pandemic which was first detected in Wuhan, China in December 2019 has disrupted economies and affected millions of activities due to how highly contagious it is.
In Ghana, there are 566 cases of COVID-19 with eight deaths and four recoveries.
Ten out of 16 regions in the country have recorded cases of COVID-19.
God not responsible for COVID-19 pandemic
Archbishop Palmer-Buckle believes the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic cannot be described as an act of God but rather on human actions.
Some have suggested and strongly argued that the outbreak of the disease is God’s punishment on man for sin.
But Archbishop Palmer-Buckle said to the extent that Coronavirus has been in existence all this while but only grew to become a pandemic recently as a result of mass movements and other activities of man indicates that God cannot be blamed for it.
“I will like to believe that God is not responsible for these things. He created us in his own image and likeliness and he has endowed us with wisdom to be able to handle what is happening and to do what we can intellectually, physically, materially even emotionally but he also does not want us to forget the spiritual dimension of everything. So, if you ask me if it is God’s doing, I will say the pandemic’s spread worldwide is human. The virus has been there always but as to becoming an epidemic and a pandemic is because we human beings have helped in spreading it because of our travel here and there,” he added.
While urging Christians to ensure a fair mix of spirituality by dedicating themselves to prayer, he said they should also adhere to the stated health protocols to avoid contracting COVID-19.
He added that Christians must come out as better people after the outbreak.
