African Priest Wearing COVID-19 Face Mask Suddenly Collapsed and Died Amid Sermon

In a video captured on Sunday, an African priest collapsed and died wearing a face mask in the midst of preaching the Word of God.

Rev. Father Jude Had His Face Mask On During Homily

He was identified as Rev. Jude and served as the spiritual director of Cameroon's Catholic Men Association.

Donning the face mask, he was speaking to his parish from the pulpit when he collapsed to the floor in Cameroon in the city of Douala during Sunday's mass.

He delivered his sermon to the believers' assemblage in French.

Prior to his death, the priest halted for a moment. His speech gradually slowed down before he came to a long pause, seemingly having difficulty breathing. The priest's eyes droop then rolled back as he shakes on the spot. He collapsed on the altar a few seconds later with other priests seen dashing to his aid.

The tragic incident transpired on 30 August when he died on the spot. Screams from the congregation ensued.

Footage of Incident

The video was posted on Twitter by Atty. Chidi Odinkalu, former chairman of Nigeria's National Human Rights Commission.

Odinkalu captioned the clip with the message, "Rev. Fr Jude., CMA, Spiritual Director of CMA Deido, in Cameroon's commercial capital, Douala, was preaching the Homily at Mass earlier today when this happened. RIP."

The trending video displayed the priest breathing heavily into the microphone before he collapsed.

It was not made clear whether the African priest had pre-existing health conditions and whether the local authorities are probing into his sudden death.

His fellow clergymen who rushed to his aid were also clad with face masks.

Social Media Users React

Social media users were stunned with one user writing, "Oh my God! Right at the pulpit while preaching a sermon!?" The said user wished for his soul to rest in peace and for God to grant him eternal rest, reported Daily Mail.

Another user wrote that life is short and unbelievable. "That man must have left his house with the hopes of returning to a wife and children. The life is short, just live it right when you can."

"Can you observe a man wiping off sweat from his face because the room was stuffy, coupled with talking with face mask on. Yes, probably with an underlying condition. That is why I will remove my face mask if I can't breathe comfortably when having it on. Life has no duplicate!" a Twitter netizen wrote, reported India Times.

Coronavirus Has Taken Many Priests' Lives

As of May this year, among the estimated more than 80,000 Americans and 5,000 Canadians who have died from the novel coronavirus are numerous Catholic priests, sisters, and brothers.

The first reported fatality of a Catholic priest from the coronavirus was Rev. Jorge Ortiz-Garay, the pastor of St. Brigid's Church in Brooklyn, New York. He died on March 27 at the age of 49.