The Rev. Fabian Arias of St. Peter's Church in Manhattan says 44 people from the parish have died from Covid-19. The death toll in the church reveals a troubling reality about the way the coronavirus pandemic is cratering immigrant communities, he says.
The Rev. Fabian Arias presides over a funeral Mass for Raul Luis Lopez in Queens.The 39-year-old restaurant deliveryman died last month in a New York hospital.
Church leaders provided a copy of the list to CNN, but asked for the full names of victims not to be printed to protect their privacy. CNN spoke with several family members of those who died and confirmed about a third of the names on the list with available public records, but was unable to confirm some deaths independently.
Saint Peter’s Church temporarily closed its doors in early March as coronavirus cases in the city began to climb. Arias now conducts church services from the living room of his apartment in the Bronx. Circles of friends and families are being hit hard. One reason, church officials say, is that immigrant workers often live in crowded conditions, making it easier for contagion to spread through the close networks. At St. Peter’s, church officials say one parish leader lost both her brother and father.“When they’re able to gather again,” Egensteiner said, “congregation members are going to be shocked at who’s missing.
And then there’s Raul, the thirty-third name on the list, a restaurant delivery worker who suffered from diabetes, went to the hospital when he started feeling sick, tested positive for coronavirus — and never left. He says hearing his cousin’s name read on the long list at Mass brings him comfort — but also breaks his heart.The church has sheltered people from fear
And as the Trump administration has intensified its immigration crackdowns in recent years, Arias says many have come to the church because of legal clinics offered there. Arias, who leads Spanish-language services at Saint Peter’s, says immigrants from at least 14 different Latin American countries consider the church a spiritual home.
“They live off of this money day to day,” Arias says. “Now they don’t have it to feed their children.” Normally they’d be inside their church. The pews would be packed. He’d hug the mourners before the service started so they’d know they weren’t alone.But the building in Manhattan where St. Peter’s normally holds its Masses has been closed since early March. Raul Luis Lopez’s funeral is taking place at the home in Queens where the delivery worker lived.
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