Pope Francis reverses decision to close churches in Rome
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Pope Francis on Friday reversed a decision to close all the Catholic churches in Rome amid Italy's coronavirus outbreak.
The pope on Thursday had made the decision to close all churches to prevent the disease's further spread. But after further conversation about the matter, he decided that leaving churches closed would pose the spiritual risk of making people "feel more isolated." Priests in Rome are now advised to discern for themselves whether or not to remain open.
"Be very close to the people of God, make each one feel loved and accompanied, help everyone to perceive that the Church does not close the doors to anyone, but that she worries that no 'little' person risks life or is forgotten," Cardinal Angelo De Donatis wrote in a letter to priests in Rome. "Also bring, with all the necessary precautions, the comfort of the sacraments to the sick, ensure the help for the needs of the poor and those who have no one to rely on, avoid all those situations of contact between people who can create a danger to health."
The letter came only hours after Francis said in a Friday homily directed at pastors that they should not take "drastic measures" to combat the threat of the coronavirus.
"Let's pray for this, that the Holy Spirit may give to pastors the ability for pastoral discernment so that they might provide measures which do not leave the holy, faithful people of God alone, and so that the people of God will feel accompanied by their pastors, comforted by the Word of God, by the sacraments, and by prayer," Francis said.
Italy has nearly 12,500 cases of coronavirus, and the country of 60 million people is on a nationwide lockdown. The country has the most cases of the virus in Europe.