ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — Pope Francis, lamenting that he felt like he was in “prison” under lockdown in the Vatican, said on Monday that he had wrestled with his decision to visit Iraq in the midst of a pandemic but ultimately chose put in God’s hands the fate of the Iraqis who gathered in crowded churches, often without masks, to see him. “This is one of the things that most made me think ‘maybe, maybe,’” Francis, who is vaccinated, said during a news conference on the papal plane returning from Baghdad. “I thought about it a lot, I prayed a lot over this.”The pope, who was not wearing a mask, said he was aware of the risks but after prayer, “it came from within and I said the one who allows me to decide this way will look after the people.”The pope’s comments, in response to a question about whether he worried that his trip could result in the infection, and even death, of the faithful who came to see him, did not address the public health consequences of his decision.

Source: New York Times March 08, 2021 14:06 UTC