Posted on 03/15/2020 4:13:30 PM PDT by RummyChick
Pope Francis defied Italian government advice to stay indoors and today walked to church through Rome's deserted streets to pray for the end of coronavirus.
The Catholic leader had earlier delivered a blessing from his balcony window above an eerily empty St Peter's Square, which has been closed to worshippers as part of the country's sweeping lockdown.
Francis then left the Vatican to visit two churches in the Italian capital, first praying in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore before strolling down the usually bustling Via del Corso.
He headed to the St Marcello al Corso, which poignantly hosts a crucifix carried in a 1522 procession in Rome when the city was stricken with plague.
Flanked by his security detail, the 83-year-old pope, who has been nursing a cold, decided to walk through the streets 'as if on a pilgrimage,' Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.
His walkabout came just hours after it was announced that the Vatican's Holy Week ceremonies will go ahead behind closed doors so not to accelerate Italy's sky-high infection rate which soared to 24,747 today.
The country is battling the second largest outbreak outside of mainland China, and is mourning the deaths of 1,809 virus victims.
Everyday life has been tipped upside-down for millions of Italians - schools have been shut, towns have been sealed off, sports games canned and mass gatherings banned.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
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This is a nice little video..those of you with family from the old country might like it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPeLZhgmwCs
I am not a fan of this Pope, but credit where it is due, I think he did a wonderful thing here.
The best I can do is not call him by nickname for him in this particular thread.
Not just “as IF on a pilgimidge.
The Bishop of Rome makes particular visits or stations on each of the Sundays in Lent.
It was a real pilgrimidge
Does he have underlying medical issues?
One lung or partial lung. Something to do with lungs
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