A message to the people of Nagaland from Rome

Menuse-O Max Khieya

Though we are told to remain a metre apart, we can still “be present” for each other. We know and perceive that even seemingly small acts of generosity have an enormous impact on our lives and community.

Rev. Fr. James Kulvi Rolnu

Kohima, May 10 (EMN): Italy is one of the worst Covid-19 affected countries in the world after the United States of America and Britain presently, while the deaths from coronavirus in Italy has surpassed 30,000 with over two lakh Covid-19 cases and more than one lakh recovery.

In an exclusive email interview with Eastern Mirror, 32-year-old Rev. Fr. James Kulvi Rolnu SJ, a Jesuit priest from Nagaland who is currently at Rome in Italy, expressed his pain in witnessing one of the most tragic humanitarian crisis and loss of several lives in Italy due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Fr. James is a Jesuit priest of Kohima Jesuit region, from Jakhama village in Kohima district. He is currently pursuing his Licentiate in Sacred Scriptures (SSL) at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome.

Amidst the adversity in Italy, the young priest has called upon the people of Nagaland to stay humane, positive and remain hopeful in God and humanity in these trying times.

Excerpts from the interview 

EM: Having witnessed one of the most tragic humanitarian crisis in the world in Italy because of Covid-19, how did you manage to live and witness the country, being from Nagaland?

Fr. James: It is heart-wrenching to see this effervescent country in the midst of colossal anguish and cataclysm due to the coronavirus pandemonium. The first few weeks of lockdown were the toughest for millions of this country because it brought everything to a moratorium. The umbra of infections and deaths loomed over the country. Human devastation at this juncture seemed infinite and agonising. I felt for a moment that I wasn’t here any longer albeit I live in Rome because all of a sudden, everything was so eccentric and uncanny. The land I live, breathe and thrive in became more far-reaching and ethereal. The daily news details on the internet, television and messages from acquaintances and contemporaries who live in the wickedly and acutely affected areas were incalculably heartrending and excruciating. When one experiences and lives through aches and ordeals of life, he or she is able to recount and connect what it means to brave through suffering. Personally, my academic sitch demands assiduousness, thoroughness and discipline. Therefore, when this lockdown began, it wasn’t exceedingly intricate for me to fine-tune the cadence of life. Through the daily Eucharist and prayer, sharing and camaraderie, connecting with friends, Jesuit companions and families and indubitably, the quotidian coursework I have to complete, the studies and learning I have to do as a student facilitated me enormously. Moreover, we are not on our own in the boulevard. There are many people who are accompanying us and remembering us in their prayers, which we experience powerfully. There are intrepid souls who are succouring the communities and the susceptible – especially the elders and the sick. To witness and recognise this was particularly consoling and strengthening. 

EM: Nagaland is equally affected by the virus and there is no exception to this crisis. What is your reaction and what message would you like to give to the people of Nagaland? 

Fr. James: This global pandemic is real wreckage and has flattened over everything. It has sundered our life and schedule. The repercussion of this crisis has made our life irresolute and dreary. Regardless of all this, there is always a way out, although, through this coronavirus crisis, the whole world is learning the hard way about what it means to treasure and value what we have and where we live. Our Nagaland has the prospective to expand and thrive. Being compassionate, generous, inclusive, empathic, appreciative and understanding must become part of us. We realise that what matters most in our life and what keeps our life going is thinning and fading. We are all significant and our contribution whether copious or modest is essential and indispensable. We are all together in these exigent and uncertain times. We all need to reciprocally come together and deliver our part in ensuring that we emerge collectively from this crisis and support each other in whatever way we can. Through our kindness and care for each other, despite knowing entirely well that it is affecting us, we all are going to make it through. Nothing is undeviating. In our own competence and abilities, we ought to create a space to contribute to the well-being of our communities and society. We must engage ourselves ever more effusively in our work and live with hopes and dreams and a desire to make a meaningful contribution to our society. The quality and depth of our interaction and relationships matter because through these encounters we grow in wisdom and become humane

EM: Can you tell us some story among the victims, which includes the high-ranking Catholic priests. What is your reaction to this?

Fr. James:  Italy became the first country in Europe to come out with all guns blazing against coronavirus. “We will make it” and “Tutto Andra Bene” (All will be well) became an encouragement croon everywhere. In the early upsurge of this pandemic, many priests visited the patients and administered sacraments to their parishioners in the hospitals; they prayed for the sick and consoled the dying. Some of them contracted the fatal virus in the process of their ministry and succumbed to it. The hospitals teemed with patients in a great deal, especially in the Intensive Care Units that there were no more places to host the patients. The hospital officials had to craft and find possible places to contain new patients. The operation theatres were altered into emergency rooms and were used as intensive care rooms. For the doctors and nurses, the most distressing scene was to see people dying in total loneliness and seclusion because they could not let anyone in to see them to any further extent. To the dying, the doctors and nurses were the last people they saw in their life and they were their families and loved ones in their final journey who surrounded them to bid them farewell. They worked round the clock to save lives and this meant they found themselves in the same circumstances after some days. They could not revisit their homes to hold in the arms their wife, husband, children and loved ones. There were heroic situations when doctors declined to have the test done on themselves to circumvent being tested positive so as to continue working with positive patients. Many of them sacrificed their lives and the words in Kohima epitaph jog my memory, “When you go home, Tell them of us and say, For your tomorrow, We gave our today”. What is intrinsic in our human nature is to help others and when we do it, undeniably, it is an incomparable feeling that cannot be measured up to anything further. Some families endured the ordeal which is harrowing and unimaginable. A family of three – father, mother and daughter will never stop thinking about what happened to them. The father felt sick. The mother and the daughter called for the ambulance but none responded to their distressed and frantic calls. Even the neighbours could do nothing owing to fear and stringent lockdown. While the mother and daughter desperately waited for assistance to turn up, the father succumbed to his illness and his remains remained in the house for three days. This was the dismal quandary of the family. Many became suicidal and some prefer to die than to languish in this ambiguity and lockdown. The daily wagers, families living in small apartments, home for the aged, senior citizens living unaccompanied, patients who have other ailments, homeless folks, etc. have many distressing and poignant stories and events to relate because they constantly live this each day. Suffering is mysterious and inseparable from a human. It is essential to our human nature and existence. Human suffering induces compassion, inclusion, respect and even duress. Our pain and affliction could guide us to assemble ourselves and our society for better. For always, about suffering and love, our explanations and reasoning for these two fundamentals will remain exiguous and derisory nonetheless these two rudiments give meaning to our life and existence. 

EM: What is the message from the Pope to humanity at the moment?

Fr. James: The pandemic makes it perceptible to us that we are one human community. This is the message of Pope Francis. He said that by bonding together and living this moment with compassion and hope we will survive these trying times. The Pope says we need humility because too often we are oblivious that there are dark times in our life as well. He reckons that we think they can only transpire to someone else. But these moments are baleful for everyone. The Pope accentuates the magnitude of prayer, bearing in mind how the Apostles turn to Jesus to save them during the storm. He says that prayer helps us recognise our helplessness. He adds saying, “It is the cry of those who are sinking, who feel they are in danger and alone. And in a difficult, desperate situation, it is significant to know that the Lord is there to cling to”. The Pope also reaches out to those who are dying alone and without the comfort and presence of their families. He is grateful to all the nurses, doctors and volunteers who, in the face of their incredible enervation and sacrifice they continue to recommend themselves with endurance and benevolence to accompany and console those patients whose family cannot be there in their final journey. He talks about the current crisis saying that it reminds us of our single humanity and that universal empathy is vital and significant. Because we can only come out of this situation together. He says that we need to build and cherish the true relationship among us. 

EM: What advice should you give Nagaland? What should we do with your experience in Italy?

Fr. James: Besides observing and maintaining the protocol and social distancing, we must stay humane, positive and remain hopeful in God and humanity amidst the chaos. Though we are told to remain a metre apart, we can still “be present” for each other. We know and perceive that even seemingly small acts of generosity have an enormous impact on our lives and community. Let us not vacillate to reach out. Allow this crisis to teach us about God, ourselves and others and we all will be surprised how we approach our suffering, life and love. In this adversity, let us be firm and sharp in our vision and values of life and learn from other states and countries who have gone through these perturbing times. We might not face the same bedlam with regard to the present crisis in our state. But their approach, patience and resilience, determination, emotions and decision-making process in handling this disaster will teach us and show the way us forward. Tutto Andra Bene – “All Will Be Well”.