Coronavirus: blessing "—urbi et orbi—" of the pope on a deserted Saint-Pierre square

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An exceptional “urbi et orbi” blessing - to the city and to the world - exceptional Saturday March 27 at the Vatican. While it usually takes place at Christmas and Easter before thousands of the faithful gathered in Saint Peter's Square, it was in front of a deserted place that the Pope pronounced it, during a vigil of prayer for the world hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

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With our correspondent in Rome , Eric Sénanque

The Pope alone in prayer, in front of an empty Saint Peter's Square , in the rain: this is the strong image Saturday evening March 27, at the Vatican. In a twilight Rome, the sovereign pontiff prayed for the end of the pandemic , in front of a crucifix which had removed the black plague in the XVIth century, according to the belief, transported from a church of Rome in front of the basilica.

With great gravity, in the dramatic context of the #coronavirus pandemic, #Pope Francis presided over a ceremony this evening in order to call on the Lord's help for an upset and disoriented humanity. #PionsEnsemble https://t.co/r2rh1pI3ok

" For weeks, night has seemed to fall ," said the pope. Thick darkness covers our places, our roads and our cities. They have taken over our lives, filling everything with deafening silence and a desolate emptiness that paralyzes everything in its path. We find ourselves frightened and lost. "

Some, however, are not afraid to give their lives in this troubled period , continued the pope: doctors, nurses, supermarket employees, police, or even priests or nuns. They are " writing the decisive events in our history, " said François.

While the pandemic is not weakening, the pope wanted to reassure by explaining that " the strength of God is to orientate towards good everything that happens to us, even sad things ".

A moving and solemn celebration, followed in world view by millions of spectators, which ended, as a symbol, in the sound of the bells of Saint-Pierre, mingled with the sirens of an ambulance.

► Read also : The state of the world facing the pandemic on Friday, March 27

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• Vatican
• Coronavirus
• Pope Francis
• Christianity
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• Religion

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