By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


A local church has closed its doors for quarantine after one of its clergy was hospitalized with COVID-19.

The Rev. Ryan Riley is an associate pastor at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Fenton. Church officials previously confirmed that Riley had been hospitalized, although he was not on a ventilator. Prayers for his recovery were requested of parishioners by the Diocese of Lansing after they confirmed he was admitted to the intensive care unit at University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor with hypoxia and severe dehydration.

A Facebook post Sunday by the diocese shared a statement by Father Riley that he had a fever of 103 degrees, had lost his appetite and was “trying to suppress” his cough. He also said a chest X-ray Saturday “showed a lot of pneumonia.” Father Riley indicated that he had been signed up for a clinical trial of Remdesivir, an antiviral medication being tested as a specific treatment for COVID-19. He then asked for continued prayers.

Meanwhile, St. John has instituted a two week quarantine for most of the staff, forcing a rescheduling of training to resume public masses. The new reopening date is now June 1st to comply with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home order, recently extended to May 28th.