A priest stands by one of the coffins stored at the
church of San Giuseppe in Seriate, near the hard-hit city of Bergamo in
the Lombardy region of Italy on Thursday. (Piero Cruciatti/AFP/Getty
Images)
There's a lot of focus on the numbers as people try to rationalise for and against measures that restrict their 'freedom'.
So let's add a little clarity.
First the fatality rate is a result of sampling a population. If the sample only includes those symptomatic, then the statistic reflects the fatality of those in that cohort.
In other words, it is a sample of the 15 and 5 percenters that are really sick. No one knows COVID-19's actual fatality rate because of the skewed data. What they do know is that if a person falls in the 20% level, it is bad.
While that may sound like a small percentage (hey 80% was a 'B' in school eh?) it still represents a huge portion of a population. The population of Canada is 37.59M, the states is 327.5M. This translates into 7.5M Canadians and 65.5M Americans being hospitalized. Of this population, based on the Chinese fatality data I posted earlier, the upper fatality would be ~28%. This is based on a 100% infection rate of the population. I don't know how to estimate / validate any smaller number.
So, the data shows a worse case scenario of 2.1M Canadians and 91.7M American deaths. The key factor in this stat is the level of care provided early in the disease. If the healthcare system is overwhelmed (ie Italy), then things get really bad. If the population is older (immune systems diminish with age), then the impact will also be greater.
Hence the need to slow its progression through the population.
That said, I feel that the concerns over the restrictions on personal freedoms are, in large part, misplaced.
If there is a disease passing through a country, the leaders have an obligation to protect society.
If left unchecked, it could create a societal upheaval and breakdown of what societal norms remain in the wasteland of the post-Vatican 2 world.
So, take this time to reflect on your lives repent of your sins, pray for forgiveness and make this your best lent ever.
Because the coffin over which a priest is praying may be your own.
+ JMJ Well Gary Campbell, former SSPX Priest and now laicised has posted a new article on WherePeterIs. https://wherepeteris.com/thoughts-of-a-former-sspx-priest-on-the-july-1-consecrations/ These words stuck out: Heck, they have built a five-star hotel, wine bar, and Walmart on the opposite bank of the Rubicon! They are not in danger of entering a state of schism, for they are already in a state of schism. I believe he doth protest too much. All the actual facts indicate that the SSPX was not in a state of schism before July 1st and an examination of the decree of excommunication highlights the either ineptitude of those in charge or a desire to leave the barn door open. The chasm between an act of disobedience and act of schism remains just what is has always been - an inconvenient barrier that person(s) in Rome seek to bridge but appear incapable of succeeding. The SSPX re-stated that they recognize the Pope as the Vicar of Christ and feel obliged by conscience...
+ JMJ People seem to be mesmerised by train wrecks. They just can't turn away as the disaster creeps forward along train tracks towards the crossing where a car, truck, bus, trailer awaits its destruction. Trads have been watching the train wreck that is this crisis of the Catholic Church for decades. The trade war between the Canada and the US has reminded me that the news is addictive. The first time I was addicted what from 2009 to 2014 when I was closely following the Rome / SSPX discussions. I was at work watching a live-stream as Bishop Fellay disappeared into the Vatican. The lead-up to this moment had been intense as the 'resistance' got freaked out and the cultural cracks between doctrine and conspiracy theory widened. In the decade since then other things have emerged, wars, rumours of wars, conspiracies, celebrity Catholics etc. Now we have a new addiction and its name is Trump. Lately, no matter how much I try, I find myself wonderin...
+ JMJ What Is Tradition? The basic premise, from my perspective, is that what was taught before cannot be contradicted by the 'present' magisterium, only deepened and expanded upon. I recall the Roman theologians called the SSPX protestants while the SSPX called them modernists. I believe this was all surrounding the concept of Traditon. SSPX's Understanding of Tradition One accusation made against the SSPX is that they don't have a correct understanding of 'Tradition'. This is how the SSPX understands Tradition: I finally profess that Tradition is not a dead memory, but the living transmission of the doctrine received from the Apostles. It remains living, in distinction to Revelation, which is closed. It is so both in the activity of the Magisterium of the Teaching Church and in the profession of Faith of the Church Taught, of which the sentire cum Ecclesia is the result of the teaching of the Magisterium. Tradition may be called ‘living’, not in the sense t...
+ JMJ Immediately after the council (i.e. Second Vatican Council) things changed in Catholic Church around the world. Some of the Veteran Trads gave a good fight in those early years. In this story, three friends in Quebec agreed that what they were hearing from the pulpit reeked of heresy. After a while, they decided that it was time to take some action. The following Sunday all three of them took up their position in the front pew, directly in front of the pulpit. It wasn't difficult as the front pew was rarely occupied even in this era. They had a plan! As the sermon began the men sat there staring at the priest, waiting. Then it happened. A statement that deviated from pre-conciliar teaching leapt from the priests lips. The reaction wasn't explosive ... it was passive-aggressive ... in a way. As if on cue, the three men shook their heads, left to right. The priest paused, studdered a little and continued. All was good for a few minutes before some other...
+ JMJ In the ramp up to the consecrations the noise floor in the intergnat grew to a constant din. This was one of the few the peeped its signal over the noise. https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/finding-common-ground-between-rome-and-the-sspx The key issue is contained in this paragraph: In the lead-up to the planned July 1, 2026, episcopal consecrations, the SSPX rejected Rome’s offer of doctrinal dialogue on the grounds that “we both know in advance that we cannot agree doctrinally, particularly regarding the fundamental orientations adopted since the Second Vatican Council.” Fr. Pagliarani also said that his previous attempt at dialogue in 2019 was shut down by Rome because of an assumed irreconcilability. It seems that, from the Society’s perspective, and perhaps from Rome’s too, their positions are incompatible. If memory serves, Rome killed any opportunity for an open discussion by stating that Vatican II was not up for debate. So it was a still-birth and ...
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