Italian priest recalls COVID-19 'nightmare' of coffin-filled church

Father Mario Carminati, who is responsible for the churches in Seriate, the small town near Bergamo where a year ago many coffins of people who died from coronavirus disease (COVID-19 ) were pilling up in a local church and taken away by military trucks, poses for a photograph, in Seriate, Italy, February 28, 2021. Picture taken February 28, 2021. REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo

SERIATE, Italy (Reuters) - On the wall of St. Joseph's Church hangs a black-and-white photograph with a caption remembering when the Italian parish of Seriate gave 270 people emergency "hospitality" last year - coffins of the dead from COVID-19, sometimes up to 40 at a time.

The hosts were Father Mario Carminati, 65, and Marcello Crotti, 46, who opened up the church to give the deceased a dignified temporary place of rest so they would not have to wait in a warehouse for burial or cremation.