Catholic chaplains in the nation's VA medical centers are on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19. Since the disease claimed the life of its first VA patient in mid-March, the death toll has climbed sharply. As of Easter Monday, April 13, more than 240 VA patients and several VA health care workers across the country have died of the disease. In New York City, the epicenter of the pandemic, the James J. Peters Medical Center has been overrun with COVID-19 patients, and dozens there have died over the past few weeks. In this edition of Catholic Military Life, the only official podcast of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, Father Tony K. Mensah, the hospital's chief chaplain, shares how he and fellow chaplains are coping as they provide spiritual care to the patients, their families, and the doctors and nurses taking care of the sick.
