But Maddhichetty said that the organization was caught off guard by how quickly the situation deteriorated in this second wave with an acute shortage of oxygen.
"We are not capable of supplying oxygen. We don’t have an oxygen supply chain,” he told EWTN.
The priest said that Bosconet was looking into how it could help prevent the further spread of COVID-19 and what kinds of support it could provide for people who were sick and quarantined at home.
“Also, we are now trying to promote the vaccination … and the Don Bosco centers are trying to give some space for vaccinations centers,” he said.
Bishops across India have been calling on the government to do more to ensure that medical resources are reaching those in need.
Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay and president of the Catholic bishops’ conference of India, said in a statement May 10 that the Catholic Church would be at the forefront of offering medical services to those in need because of the pandemic.
“The Church in India has a thousand hospitals with 60,000 beds across providing healthcare to everyone, especially people on the margins of society. We are also coordinating financial aid to buy more ventilators and increase our medical equipment to save the lives of our people, which will be available for people of all faiths and creeds,” Gracias said in the statement published by Asia News.
“We will open all our facilities to the needs of the people. Our schools will operate as isolation and quarantine centers, our institutions as vaccination centers, and our religious personnel all over the country will begin our campaign to encourage people to get vaccinated,” he said.
The cardinal noted that two bishops died during this second wave of the pandemic, as well as many priests and religious sisters.
“I often receive phone calls from entire convents infected with the virus,” he said.
Bishop Basil Bhuriya of Jhabua, 65, died on May 6 and Archbishop Emeritus Antony Anandarayar of Pondicherry-Cuddalore, 75, died of COVID-19 on May 4.
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“We must remember that our lives are of service. Yet it is painful to see lives snuffed out so quickly. The virus has claimed many people we know and has left many children orphaned who have lost both parents. There is so much suffering and we turn to pray,” Gracias said.
Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees.