Pope visits empty Rome
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis ventured into a deserted Rome on Sunday to pray at two shrines for the end of the coronavirus pandemic, as the Vatican said his Easter services will be held without the public for the first time.
Francis left the Vatican unannounced to pray at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and then walked along one of Rome’s main streets to visit St. Marcello church to pray before a crucifix that was used in a procession when the plague hit Rome in 1522.
A Vatican statement said he prayed for an end to the pandemic and also for the sick, their families and health providers and workers keeping pharmacies and food stories open amid a national lockdown.
A Vatican picture showed the pope and a small security detail walking on an empty Via del Corso, which is usually packed with shoppers and people taking strolls on Sunday.
The Vatican said earlier that his Holy Weeks and Easter services next month will be held without public participation, a step believed to be unprecedented in modern times.
It was not clear how the massive events will be scaled down but sources said officials were studying ways to hold them in indoor locations, including St Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel, with small representative groups attending.
The Holy Week services, which begin on Palm Sunday, lead up to Easter, the most important day of the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar for the world’s 1.3 billion members. Palm Sunday, which commemorates Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem, usually takes place in St Peter’s Square, which traditionally is decorated with olive trees while those in the crowd hold up palm branches.
Another Holy Week event, the Way of the Cross procession on Good Friday, takes place around Rome’s ancient Colosseum.
The main event is the Easter Sunday Mass and the pope’s twice yearly “Urbi et Orbi” blessing and message from the central balcony of St Peter’s Square.
The Netherlands usually fly in tens of thousands of flowers to decorate the papal altar and the entire square, but the Dutch ambassador to the Vatican, Caroline Weijers, said last week that there would be no flowers this year.