The Ebola scare hit Lagos metropolis last month, eating into every fabric of the society, not sparing what Karl Marx described as “opium of the people”. TEMITOPE DAVID-ADEGBOYE and INNOCENT ANORUO look at some of the measures being put in place by the churches to keep the scourge away.
Holy Communion in Catholic Church
Since Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian American diplomat, brought Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) into Nigeria and later died, anxiety has continued to envelop Nigeria. This trepidation is further being heightened because of the social, cultural and religious practices among Nigerians.
To avert an epidemic, various measures are being put in place, both at the federal and state levels, with the latest call coming from President Goodluck Jonathan that there should be a stop to risky religious practices.
Before this call by Jonathan, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Enoch Adeboye, had banned delegates from Ebola-affected West African nations such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea from attending the Church’s annual convention at the Redemption Camp along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Pastor Adeboye expressed regret over the decision to bar members of the Church in the affected nations, but prayed that God would soon arrest the situation.
The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and the Catholic Church have also suspended the ‘sign of peace’ where members usually exchange handshakes during an Anglican service and the Catholic Mass.
The rite of peace also known as the sign of peace, involves shaking hands of fellow congregants. According to Catholic Online, the sign of peace is intended for religious communion and mutual charity among members.
A statement by the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, His Eminence, John Cardinal Onaiyekan reads: “Due to the prevailing national situation on the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), I am directing that the following pastoral guidelines should be observed throughout our archdiocese till further notice.
“The sign of peace should be omitted at Mass, Communion in the hand is highly recommended and should be encouraged (unless for those who insist on receiving on the tongue).”
“You know some people sweat a lot, and since one of the ways the virus can be transmitted is through sweating, it will be better to stop handshake, so that one does not contract it.”
Similarly in his release entitled: The Outbreak of Ebola Virus – a Pastoral Approach, the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Alfred Adewale Martins, noted that since the rite is optional, they shall forthwith omit it.
He said: “Taking into consideration the fact that this rite is optional, we shall henceforth omit it i.e. not invite people to offer the sign of peace. When you get to this rite, skip it.
“Note also that the recent Circular from the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of Sacraments acknowledged this when it stated: It is completely legitimate to affirm that it is not necessary to invite ‘mechanistically’ to exchange the sign of peace.”
On the administration of the Holy Communion, Martins said priests should continue with the traditional hand-to-mouth method, pending when an alternative decision is taken, but warned against letting the hands touch the tongue of the recipients.
However, contrary to the provisions of the circular by the Lagos archdiocese, in most parishes of the Catholic Church under the purview of Onaiyekan in Abuja, the procedure for Holy Communion was adjusted. Instead of the usual hand-to-mouth approach for giving the Holy Communion to communicants, officiating priests dropped the Host in the right palm of the communicant for them to personally put into their mouth.
He added that, henceforth, no holy water fonts should be placed at the entrance of churches, and warned that priests should endeavour to wash their hands properly after performing the rite of the anointing of the sick. Church workers responsible for counting offerings were advised to start to wear protective gloves
Also, the Primate of the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion, Nicholas Okoh, has said the church would from September roll out measures to its faithful as pre-condition to ward off the rampaging Ebola virus.
But before September, he has announced the suspension of the shaking of hands during exchange of the peace, and also the age-long mouth method of administering communion.
Okoh said communicants would now dip bread in the wine and into their mouths. This is aimed at preventing the spread of the disease.
He added that it was exigent for the church to take drastic measures to curb the spread of the deadly disease.
In his sermon on Sunday, Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners Chapel referred to onslaught of the deadly virus as “one of those noisome occurrences” as stated in the Bible, adding that “Christians should learn to deal with it instead of panicking”.
He however added that Christians should take necessary precaution and also claim the promise of God as stated in Psalm 91:2-3.
Pastor Akin Akande of Men of Purpose Ministries, Egbeda, Lagos, believes that Ebola outbreak is a strange occurrence and a sign of the end time.
According to him, it is not enough for the government to discourage people from large gatherings like conventions; but that political mass rallies should be discouraged too.
On what his Church members should do at this period, he said: “Pentecostals are different from the Catholics and Anglicans in cases like communions; each person is given his own cup.
“We have encouraged anointing service that will be holding tomorrow. Individuals are to come with their own anointing oil. People should avoid excessive touching, since touching is inevitable in the church as it is in the secular world.”
Generally, Christians should practice proper sanitation in their homes and be careful about buying things outside like ‘Agege bread’, suya, groundnut, etc. because one does not know the hygienic conditions of their production, he said, adding: “In all, Christians should be watchful and prayerful.”
While some Anglican and Catholic churches have taken proactive measures to avert spread of the virus, some Pentecostals are yet to take any stringent measure against this disease.
Perhaps, this is the reason the Lagos State and federal government officials paid a visit to the Synagogue Church of All Nations, the begining of the spread of the EVD in Lagos. The Church, with Temitope Joshua as its head, is known for hosting very sick people from across the world owing to the healing that is believed to come from there.
However, even as the pastors of these churches seem to be daring in times like this, some of the adherents also ‘play safe’. A worshipper told TheNiche that when his pastor, in the middle of service, asked every member of the congregation to shake at least seven hands, he dodged, only to resurface when he felt the ritual was over.
Some Christian faithful have been reacting to the latest development. While some commend the leadership for taking adequate steps to avoid an outbreak among their members, Michael James said it is good that the culture of silence is being discouraged, adding that religion and science do not go together because religion has to do with faith while science believes in proofs. “The proofs that we have now is that some of the practices in our churches could aid the spread of the deadly disease. So we must join hands with the government to avert a possible outbreak.”
Also commenting on the issue, Ufoma Boniface advised worshippers not to see any adjustment as a decrease in their faith, adding that “faith without good work is dead”.
“Let us not confuse our religion with science because Ebola disease is real; everybody should accept this and work to curtail it in the society,” she said.
However, it has been revealed that Ebola is not a death sentence as earlier believed, as there is a survival rate of about 10 per cent.
In an interactive session with the religious and traditional leaders at the Banquet Hall, Lagos House, Ikeja, Governor Babatunde Fashola emphasised that contacting the virus does not mean certain death, adding that whether the patient dies or lives would depend on what steps are taken after discovery of the virus in the victim.
“The risk of spread in Church or Mosque is enormous. In the countries where the disease is presently, it has been in rural areas and it has killed many. This is the first time in Africa that it is breaking in an urban centre where we are so close to one another; so the potential for catastrophe is enormous if we do not act appropriately,” Fashola said
He pointed out that the Centre for Disease Control has assured that if the patient receives “Intensive Medical Care” (IMC), which, according to him, involves constant rehydration, intravenous infusions and use of antibiotics and so on, the body would be ready to fight back.
In the meantime, there seems to be hope of cure for the disease, as the United States government has confirmed that it will send doses of an experimental Ebola drug to treat doctors in Liberia.
The drug, known as ZMapp, has been administered to two Americans already.
The supply of the drug was exhausted after its supplies were sent to West Africa, said a statement on the California-based Mapp Bio Pharmaceutical website. The drug was “provided at no cost in all cases”, the company added.
