A man wears a mask as he looks at an empty St. Peter's Square. (AP photo)Pope Francis held his weekly general audience in his private library as the Vatican implemented Italy’s drastic coronavirus lockdown measures and barred the general public from St. Peter’s Square and took precautions to limit the spread of infections in the tiny city-state. Francis sent out special prayers for prisoners, the sick and hospital personnel caring for them, delivering his weekly catechism lesson via livestream rather than in person. Usually the pope’s weekly Wednesday audience is a boisterous affair that fills St. Peter’s or the Vatican auditorium with tens of thousands of people. But for this week’s audience, the first of Italy’s nationwide lockdown, the square was empty and police barred access to St. Peter’s Basilica to anyone but individuals seeking to pray.-AP

Source: The Standard March 11, 2020 09:22 UTC