Pope Francis salutes the faithful at the end of his weekly general audience (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)Pope Francis is to halt his public general audiences and limit participation at Christmas and other upcoming Masses amid a surge of coronavirus cases in Italy and the Vatican. Expand Close The Vatican is putting an end to Pope Francis’ general audiences with the public (Alessandra Tarantino/AP) AP/PA Images / FacebookTwitterEmailWhatsapp The Vatican is putting an end to Pope Francis’ general audiences with the public (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)The Vatican City State has not been spared, with 13 Swiss Guards testing positive this month. After Italy largely tamed the virus with a strict lockdown over the spring and summer, Francis resumed his Wednesday general audiences on September 2 in a Vatican courtyard with limited numbers of faithful participating. In announcing the return to live-streamed audiences, the Vatican reported that someone who attended the October 21 audience tested positive. In recent weeks, as infections began to rise, Francis refrained from greeting well-wishers at the audiences to prevent people from crowding around him.

Source: Irish Independent October 29, 2020 17:37 UTC