HONG KONG (SE): Four Maryknoll schools in Hong Kong recently filmed a video to give encouragement to the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers in the United States, which is grappling with a serious outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Students and teachers from the Bishop Paschang Catholic School, Maryknoll Secondary School, and the primary as well as the secondary sections of the Maryknoll Fathers’ School prepared the video at the end of June to encourage them in their fight against the pandemic. It also recorded how students happily came back to school after classes had been suspended for over a hundred days.
In the video, students expressed their gratitude for the Maryknoll priests and brothers who built and guided their schools. They articulated their dismay at the news that the Covid-19 outbreak has taken a toll on the community, with 14 having passed away and many others undergoing medical treatment and quarantine.
“Although we are oceans apart, in God, our spirits are always together,” the video says.
Students held up placards with encouraging words such as “Never give up, we will overcome,” while some sang songs to send their good wishes.
The video was scheduled to premiere at the graduation ceremony of Maryknoll Fathers’ School this year, which was cancelled due to the surge of cases in early July. Instead, it was posted on the YouTube channel of the Maryknoll community in the United States as well as the websites of the Maryknoll schools in Hong Kong.
As Covid-19 continued to wreak havoc worldwide over the past months, over three million people in the United States were infected as of the middle of July, with a death toll of over 130,000.
According to an April 22 report from Catholic News Service, three Maryknoll sisters died of the illness during the month of April.
