MANILA, Philippines - Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Angel Lagdameo has said that a combination of prayer and prescribed medical precaution would be a “proactive response” to the threat of H1N1 influenza A strain (A/H1N1) which already killed 19 people in Mexico.
“Prayer may be as powerful as or even may be more powerful than antibiotic or anti-virus pills which may not be accessible to many very poor people. The combination of prayer and prescribed medical precaution would be a proactive response to the present concern,” Lagdameo said in a recent pastoral exhortation.
He urged the Filipino faithful to pray for the countries affected by the influenza virus strain.
Although the deadly virus has not yet reached the country, Lagdameo called on all local Church organizations to include a prayer addressed to the Divine Healer, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
“We exhort the people to pray for our country as well as for the countries already affected by the A/H1N1 virus that it may be effectively controlled. Earnest and humble prayer addressed to the Divine Healer, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, is the need of the hour,” he said.
All churches under the Archdiocese of Manila yesterday started praying the “Oratio Imperata on Swine Flu” after communion to implore divine grace for protection against the deadly disease.
As of yesterday morning, there were already 19 confirmed deaths in Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak.
Another 21-month-old boy was confirmed dead in the United States, the first recorded death outside Mexico.
The confirmed infection cases have reached 777 worldwide, mainly including 454 in Mexico and 184 in the US.
In addition, 16 countries and regions have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths, including Austria (1), Hong Kong, China (1), Denmark (1), Netherlands (1), Ireland (1), France (1), Costa Rica (1), Italy (1), Switzerland (1), South Korea (1), Israel (2), New Zealand (4), Germany (6), Spain (15), Britain (15) and Canada (85).
Due to the high risk of a pandemic caused by the A/H1N1 virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) also said there is still the possibility to raise the alert level to Phase 6 from the current Phase 5.