Pope Francis
He does not preach the Christmas message from St. Peter's Basilica
Pope Francis giving his Urbi-et-Orbi blessing in 2018.
© Riccardo De Luca – Update / shutterstock.com
Pope Francis will not donate his Christmas blessing from St. Peter's Basilica. Two corona cases are said to have occurred in the Vatican.
Pope Francis (84) has again changed his program for Christmas. He will not donate his Urbi-et-Orbi blessing on Christmas Day from St.Peter's Basilica, but from the Benediction Hall in the Apostolic Palace. At 12 noon, the head of the Catholic Church will first deliver this year's Christmas message and then give the blessing. The Vatican announced on Tuesday. The change should also have to do with two corona cases in the Pope's environment.
According to Italian media reports, the Pope's alms administrator, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, 57, tested positive for the coronavirus and was taken to the Agostino Gemelli clinic with pneumonia. The President of the Vatican Administration, the Italian Giuseppe Bertello (78), is said to have tested positive for the virus.
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At Easter, the Pope did not speak his blessing from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica as usual, but he held the festive mass in front of the main altar in the empty St. Peter's Basilica and then donated the blessing.
The Vatican had already made changes to the Christmas mass due to the corona pandemic. The mass from St. Peter's Basilica will take place at 7:30 p.m. this year due to the night curfew in Italy.