CNA Staff, Mar 27, 2020 / 21:21 pm
A Brooklyn parish announced the death of its pastor, Fr. Jorge Ortiz-Garay, who died of coronavirus at approximately 6 p.m Friday evening. The priest is the first in the U.S. known to have died from the virus.
Journalist Rocco Palmo was the first to report that the priest died from the virus, which is the cause of a global pandemic.
On March 24, the Diocese of Brooklyn announced that a priest at St. Brigid's Parish in Brooklyn, where Ortiz was pastor, had contracted the coronavirus. On the same day, the parish posted on its Facebook page that Ortiz was "under observation in the hospital" and requested prayers "for his speedy recovery."
On March 27, the parish posted on its Facebook page again: