Catholic churches across Rome to shut until April 3

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People watch a screen live-broadcasting Pope Francis’ Sunday Angelus prayer on St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on March 8, 2020, after millions of people were placed under forced quarantine in northern Italy as the government approved drastic measures in an attempt to halt the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, caused by the novel coronavirus that is sweeping the globe. – On top of the forced quarantine of 15 million people in vast areas of northern Italy until April 3, the government has also closed schools, nightclubs and casinos throughout the country, according to the text of the decree published on the government website. With more than 230 fatalities, Italy has recorded the most deaths from the COVID-19 disease of any country outside China, where the outbreak began in December. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP)

 

VATICAN CITY (AFP) — The Vatican on Thursday took the unprecedented step of closing all Catholic churches across Rome to stem the spread of a coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 1,000 people across Italy.

The papal vicar for Rome said the churches would reopen when a broader Italian government crackdown on public gatherings expires on April 3.

“The faithful are consequently exempt from their obligation to fulfill the festive precept,” a statement from Cardinal Angelo De Donatis said.

Tourists wearing a protective mask walk in St. Peter’s square at the Vatican on March 03, 2020. – (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)

The Vatican statement said access to “churches of the Diocese of Rome open to the public — and more generally to religious buildings of any kind open to the public — is forbidden to all the faithful”.

The statement added that monasteries would remain open to “communities that habitually use them as residents”.

“This provision is for the common good,” De Donatis wrote.


© Agence France-Presse