A woman wearing a mask for protection from the coronavirus watches as Pope Francis leads the angelus from a window.
(CNS photo/Paul Haring) All public Masses and liturgical celebrations in Italy have been suspended until April 3 following an announcement by the Italian bishops’ conference at the weekend.
On March 8 the country’s bishops postponed all religious activities amid growing fears surrounding the coronavirus outbreak, after the Italian government ordered the closure of all schools, cinemas, museums, gyms and theatres.
In their statement, the bishops cited a decree issued by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in Italy which was signed on the same day.
The directive stipulated that “civil and religious ceremonies, including funeral ceremonies, are suspended at a preventative level throughout the country until Friday, April 3”.
Noting that the decree causes “suffering and difficulty” for both priests and faithful, the bishops insisted that the directive was accepted by the conference “solely by the desire to do its part, also in this situation, to contribute to the protection of public health”.
Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, papal vicar of the Diocese of Rome, said that while all public Masses are suspended, churches “will remain open, as usual, for personal prayer”.
“May this time of Lent help us to live this great test evangelically,” said Cardinal De Donatis.
From the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy, the national bishops’ conference has urged Catholics to adhere to government restrictions in order to stop the spread of the virus.
Prayers
In his March 8 Angelus address, which was livestreamed from the library of the Vatican’s apostolic palace, Pope Francis offered his prayers for all those impacted by the coronavirus.
He said: “I am close in prayer to all people suffering from the current coronavirus epidemic and to all those who care for them.
“I unite myself to my brother bishops in encouraging faithful to live this difficult moment with the strength of faith, the certainty of hope and the fervor of charity.”
He added that the Church’s Lenten season “helps give an evangelical meaning also to this moment of trial”.
Pope Francis also commented on the strangeness of doing the Angelus through a livestream, saying he was “a little bit caged” in the apostolic palace as a preventative measure to avoid further transmission of the coronavirus.
This week’s general audience on March 11, where the Pope offered a catechesis in different languages to pilgrims in St Peter’s Square, was also livestreamed in an effort to stop the spread of the virus.