Pope Francis tells pastors not to abandon the faithful during the crisis

"In these days let us join the sick, [and] families who suffer in the midst of this pandemic," Pope Francis prayed at the beginning of the daily Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae on the morning of Friday, March 13th, the seventh anniversary of his election to the See of Peter.

The anniversary falls this year amid a global outbreak of a deadly viral disease, COVID-19, which has struck Italy with great force and has led the government to implement severe restrictions on civil liberties across the country. .

The latest data show that the number of people declared free of the disease after contracting the virus increased by 213 between Wednesday and Thursday, from 1.045 to 1.258. However, the numbers remained a cause of serious concern for the Italian authorities: 2.249 new cases of coronavirus infection at national level and 189 further deaths.

Coronavirus has a long incubation period and often occurs in carriers for nothing, or only slightly. This makes it difficult to contain the spread of the virus. When the virus shows up, it can lead to severe respiratory failure, which requires hospitalization. The coronavirus seems to attack the elderly and affirm with particular vehemence

In Italy, the number of serious cases has so far exceeded the ability of available medical services to take care of patients. As health infrastructure managers rush to bridge the gap, authorities have instituted measures they hope will slow the spread of the disease. Pope Francis prayed for the affected, for the caregivers and for the leaders.

"Today, I would also like to pray for the shepherds", said Pope Francis on Friday morning, "who must accompany the People of God in this crisis: that the Lord give them the strength and the means to choose the best means for helping."

"Drastic measures," continued Francis, "are not always good."

The Pope asked the Holy Spirit to give pastors the ability - "pastoral discernment" in his precise words - "to adopt measures that will not leave the holy and faithful people of God without assistance". Francis went on to specify: "Let the people of God feel accompanied by his pastors: by the comfort of the Word of God, of the Sacraments and of prayer".

Mixed signals

On Tuesday of this week, Pope Francis urged priests to solicit concern for the spiritual health and safety of the faithful, especially the sick.

A press office statement in response to Tuesday's journalists' questions explained that the Pope had expected all priests to exercise their care duties "in accordance with the health measures established by the Italian authorities". At the moment, these measures allow people to travel to the city for work and, as noted above, it is difficult to argue that bringing people to the sacraments is not in the description of a priest's job, even and especially when people are sick or confined. .

Best practices are still developing, but the Romans usually find a way.

Pope Francis' prayer on Friday came only a few hours after the diocese of Rome announced the closure of all the churches in the city, and while the Italian episcopal conference (CEI) announced that they were considering a similar measure across the country, to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

The titles, chapels, oratories and sanctuaries of the Roman parish are all closed. On Thursday the cardinal vicar of Rome, Angelo De Donatis, made the decision. Earlier this week, he suspended public Masses and other community liturgies. When Cardinal De Donatis took that step, he left the churches open to private prayer and devotion. They are now closed for that too.

"Faith, hope and charity", the Italian bishops wrote on Thursday, are a three-fold key with which they affirm that "they intend to face this season", highlighting the responsibilities of individuals and associations. "Of each," they said, "utmost attention is needed, as anyone's carelessness in observing health measures could harm others."

In their Thursday statement, the CEI said: "The closure of the churches [nationally] could be an expression of this responsibility", which each person carries individually and everyone has together. "This, not because the state imposes us, but for a sense of belonging to the human family", which the CEI has described as at this moment, "exposed [sic] to a virus of which we do not yet know the nature or propagation. "

The Italian bishops may not be expert virologists, but the Italian ministry of health, together with the World Health Organization, European agencies and the US Centers for Disease Control, seem quite certain on the points: it is the new coronavirus, present in the it rose and spreads through contact.

This is why the government has ordered the closure of all stores - excluding grocery stores and pharmacies, along with newsagents and tobacconists - and has prohibited any unnecessary circulation.

The people who need to go to work and work can be about, as can be those who need to buy food or medicine or make essential appointments. Deliveries are in progress. Public transport and other essential services remain open. Several telecommunications companies have cut tariffs or thwarted usage limits during an emergency, while the media have dropped earnings at least on their stories by offering coverage related to the crisis.

The Vatican, meanwhile, has decided for the time being to remain open to business.

"It has been decided," read a statement sent by journalists from the Holy See to journalists shortly before 13:00 in Rome on Thursday, "that the dicasteries and entities of the Holy See and the Vatican City State will remain open. in order to guarantee essential services for the universal Church, in coordination with the Secretariat of State, while at the same time applying all health standards and work flexibility mechanisms established and issued in the past days. "

As of press time, the Holy See press office had not answered Catholic Herald's follow-up questions on whether and to what extent remote working protocols had been implemented in all Curial offices and outfits and of other Vatican.

The Herald also asked what "essential" means for the purposes of the curiae provisions, as well as what measures the press office has taken to ensure the safety of staff and journalists, compliance with the restrictions of the Holy See and the Italian government and continuity of work. Posted late Thursday afternoon, even those questions were not answered by press time on Friday.

To rebel against a cause

An office in the Vatican that will remain closed on Saturday is that of the papal almoner. A note from Thursday's almoner office specified that anyone looking for a parchment certificate of a papal blessing - for which the alhamoner is responsible - could order it online (www.elemosineria.va) and explained that the correspondents could leave their letters in the almoner pack at St Anne's Gate.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, who heads the office responsible for the Pope's charitable activities in the city, even left his personal cell phone number. "[F] or special or urgent cases", among the needy of the city, read the press release.

Cardinal Krajewski was busy on the night between Thursday and Friday: with the help of volunteers, he distributed food to the homeless.

On Friday, Crux reported that Cardinal Krajewski had opened the doors of his titular church of Santa Maria Immacolata on the Esquiline hill between Piazza Vittorio and the cathedral basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, in contrast to the order of the cardinal vicar to block churches .

"It's an act of disobedience, yes, I myself put out the Blessed Sacrament and opened my church," Cardinal Krajewski said in Crux on Friday. He also told Crux that he would keep his church open, and the Blessed Sacrament exposed for worship, all day on Friday and during normal Saturday hours.

"It didn't happen under fascism, it didn't happen under Russian or Soviet rule in Poland - the churches weren't closed," he said. "This is an act that should bring courage to other priests," he added.

The atmosphere of the city

Thursday morning this journalist was in the front row at the Tris supermarket in Arco di Travertino.

I arrived at 6:54 for an 8 o'clock opening, not entirely planned. The places I wanted to visit first - neighborhood chapel, parish church, fruit stall - were not yet open. To date, it will only be the fruit stall. "Grocery stores are no more important than churches," a Vatican official said indiscreetly, in a nutshell. However, when the supermarket doors opened, the line extended deep into the parking lot. People were waiting patiently, spaced evenly at the recommended safe distance from each other and in a good mood.

I have lived in Rome for almost twenty three years: more than half of my life. I love this city and its people, which are no different from the people of New York, the city where I was born. Like New Yorkers, Romans can be just as quick to help a total stranger just because the stranger seems to be in need, as they have to offer a four-letter greeting.

said, if someone had told me even a few weeks ago that they would see the Romans wait patiently in any line and practice joyful civilization as a natural fact, I would have told them that they would soon be able to sell me a bridge in Brooklyn. However, what I saw I saw with my own eyes.