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Pope Francis will stop livestreaming daily Mass from the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta guesthouse on 19 May as public Masses are set to resume in Italy this weekend.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni says on 18 May, Francis will celebrate his daily morning Mass at the tomb of St. John Paul II inside St. Peter’s Basilica. The mass will mark the centenary of St John Paul IIs birth.
“As he has been able to affirm in recent days, the pope hopes that the People of God will thus be able to return to communal familiarity with the Lord in the sacraments, participating in the Sunday liturgy and resuming, also in churches, the daily attendance of the Lord and his word,” Bruni says.
Pope Francis began livestreaming daily Mass at the beginning of Italy’s national lockdown, so Catholics could “virtually” attend a daily liturgy.
One Vatican official says the faithful may again attend liturgies inside the Vatican’s Saint Anne’s parish, as well as St. Peter’s Basilica. However this will depend on whether the Italian authorities allow access to the square.
The Vatican banned guided visits and tourists from visiting the basilica in March, when the nationwide lockdown began.
Initially, only people who wished to enter the basilica for prayer were allowed in. However Italian police barred anyone from entering who did not have what they deemed legitimate work motives.
Despite being a part of the Vatican City State, St. Peter’s Square under the 1929 Lateran Treaty is subject to the authority of Italian police for crowd control, unless the pope is present.
So far the Vatican has not announced when the pope’s weekly general audiences and Sunday Regina Coeli/Angelus addresses, which have also been livestreamed amid the ban on public gatherings, will again be held in the square with the public.
Source
- Crux Now
- Image: Catholic World Report
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