The Catholic Church on Friday granted forgiveness — under certain conditions — for the sins of the faithful struck by the novel coronavirus.

A decree published by the Vatican also covers healthcare workers and those who pray for their wellbeing. Relatives who care for their sick family members may also be forgiven.

The conditions include the sick saying a certain number of prayers or following important celebrations from a distance.

AFP

American white evangelicals aren’t the only faithful who rely on thoughts, prayers and miracles to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

How presumptuous of the Catholic Church to forgive the sins of the faithful struck by the novel coronavirus. Who can forgive sins, but the Almighty? The Catholic Church, indeed no church, can forgive sins. Only the Almighty can forgive our transgressions.

What is the Catholic Church anyway, but a patriarchal and misogynist organization that doesn’t have a direct line to God. The prayers of the pope and two dollars won’t even buy you a cup of coffee at Starbucks, let alone forgive your sins or cure you of the virus.

Reciting a dozen Hail Marys won’t cure you of the common cold, let alone the coronavirus. And they are as efficacious as singing the Barney the dinosaur song in washing away your sins.

The Catholic Church should be concerned with asking God to forgive them for the sins of homophobia, misogyny and a clergy rampant with pedophiles.

During a pandemic only a madman will look to the church for guidance, only physicians, scientists and wise politicians (I know they are in short supply) can deliver us.