Priest tests positive for COVID-19
A Roman Catholic priest, based at a cluster of city parishes that includes St. Paul Cathedral, has tested positive for COVID-19, the Diocese of Pittsburgh said Sunday.
The news comes a day after the diocese announced that he and another priest who had come in contact with a person with COVID-19 would self-isolate along with the teams of priests who work with them in the city and the South Hills.
The priest, the Rev. Adam Potter, was reporting mild symptoms on Sunday, Bishop David Zubik said.
Bishop Zubik, who already canceled Masses, fish fries and other public gatherings at churches, took further steps Saturday to try to prevent the spread of the the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. They included closing all churches even to those coming to pray individually, and to canceling even confessions in church buildings or parking lots, which he earlier had authorized if confidentiality and social distancing were ensured.
“Every leader has to be able to take risks, but when you become the risk, you have to step back,” Bishop Zubik said.
Father Potter is parochial vicar for a parish grouping that includes St. Paul Cathedral and St. Regis Parish in Oakland as well as the parishes of St. Rosalia in Greenfield and St. Stephen in Hazelwood. A parish grouping, under the diocese’s ongoing consolidation, includes multiple parishes with a single team of priests.
Father Potter and another priest, the Rev. Thomas Gramc, began self-quarantining on Saturday. They had been in contact with a person who tested positive on Friday.
Father Gramc is parochial vicar at the parish grouping that includes St. Bernard in Mt. Lebanon and Our Lady of Grace in Scott. He is awaiting test results.
Both priests also are high school chaplains, Father Potter at Oakland Catholic and Father Gramc at Seton LaSalle. Neither has had any contact with students
or faculty since the schools closed March 13, the diocese said.
Father Potter and Father Gramc are both young adults, ordained respectively in 2016 and 2017.
The entire clergy teams at both parish groupings began a 14-day quarantine on Saturday, the diocese said.
Bishop Zubik said he was on the phone for 10 hours with various people Saturday to determine the best course of action and concluded that the churches needed to be shut entirely.
“It was very difficult decision,” he said.
He said just a few days earlier that someone raised the hypothetical question of what to do if an entire parish’s clergy team had to selfquarantine.
“Well, here we go. It’s not just one parish; it’s two groupings with six parishes,” he said. “I said this is the step we have to take. We have to be able to provide assurance to the faithful of the diocese we’re doing everything we can to protect them.”
The bishop and other priests of the diocese are leading online Masses and other devotions and finding other ways to “do all we can to keep people connected with God,” he said.
The bishop has taken progressive stricter measures since the entire nation began shutting down public activities in mid-March. Two weekends ago, churches had Masses, but Pennsylvania bishops lifted the usual obligation to attend them. But daily and weekend Masses were canceled following that, and while some churches kept their doors open for individual prayer and for confessions in socially distant but confidential settings, those options are also closed off for now.
“This is very sad, but we all understand,” said the Rev. David Bonnar, administrator of St. Bernard and Our Lady of Grace, who began self-quarantining on Saturday.
“First, the Obligation for Sunday Mass was lifted,” he said via email. “Then Masses were suspended. Now the doors of our churches are locked. As if that is not enough, we priests who have lived and worked together for the last two years are isolated from each other. We remain, however, a strong fraternity through our prayer and texting and phone calls.”
He added: “What is most inspiring is how our faithful from both Our Lady of Grace and Saint Bernard Parishes have been reaching out to us. They have sent emails, texts and have pledged prayers. They have also dropped off meals and baked goods. We need to keep working out. [O]therwise we are going to look a lot different after this quarantine. We priests have never felt so loved and supported by our people. It all brings tears to my eyes.”
Father Bonnar said he told his colleagues they can use the time as a form of spiritual retreat.
“It is also a time of self care to get some rest and read,” he said. “While our churches are closed and we are unable to provide the sacraments for our people, God is still present. Each of us prayed the Holy Mass today in our isolation for our people. We will continue to do so every day.”