Nothing could stop Mass in a small church in Trento, Italy, not even death:
Pio Lieta, 86, suffered a fatal heart attack during an early-morning service at the Church of the White Madonna last Sunday.
An ambulance was called, and Mr Lieta, whose name means "pious" in Italian, was pronounced dead at the scene.
However, instead of halting the Mass, Father Mario Peron asked for the body to be covered with a white cloth and left Mr Lieta in the nave of the church while he finished the service.
It is against Italian law to move a body without the authorisation of a local magistrate.
"What could I have done?" said Fr Peron afterwards. "The Holy Mass has to be celebrated. It is not right to make an exception for one individual. Only people who do not understand the point of Mass would not understand the logic of my decision. We could not stop. We were united together in church and we prayed for him."
I've been in a Mass when an older person collapsed in unconsciousness. An EMT person happened to be there, so he contacted the local ambulance squad and administered to the victim himself, whilst everyone else continued praying and the Mass went on. The ambulance crew came in and got the guy out and to the hospital unimpeded within minutes, but the Mass continued on throughout. At some point the priest interjected some words asking everyone to pray for so & so's recovery as well. What else are you going to do... send everyone home to watch football? It's prayer ... you continue praying and remember the sick/deceased person in those prayers.
Man some religions are bizaar...
As for continuing Mass, it's not like it was a concert. They were praying. It seems insensitive, like they're ignoring the deceased, but they're praying. There's nothing better they could've done.
Did you read the article or even the short blurb?
1. The ambulance crew was called.
2. They declared the guy dead. (apparently they had authority to do so -- in the US, you need a doctor I think)
3. Apparently the local law is that once the guy is declared dead, the ambulance crew cannot legally move them w/o the local magistrate arriving. He wasn't there, so they couldn't move him.
4. Life went on for the living as they prayed for the departed and they waited for the magistrate to OK moving the body.
5. The dead guy's son thought his father (a devoted Catholic & faithful Mass attender) would have wanted it that way and had no problems with the way things went down. So, what's the big deal?
Just because it's religion doesn't mean everyone should understand it's reasoning behind the disrespectful act. It's just like when religious zealots scream to the high heavens when science supports their mythology, but if when it doesn't they cry and whine that religion must be respected! Oh, the hypocrisy.
Regardless if they are praying, playing bingo, or roasting smores, if someone dies in the immediate vicinity, they should leave out of respect for the dead. There doesn't have to be excrement for you to understand my point - though it certainly highlights a possible scenario.
FYI. The "old woman" was a man. If the name Pio (not "Pia") wasn't a tip, the article (which you read, right) called him "Mr." a whole bunch of times.
Of course, some folks take the opportunity to grind their axes here.
I wonder how many people were really paying attention to the mass by that point.
Hey NiteWhite, get off your high horse, arrogant bastard.