Pope begins Holy Week with liturgical celebration without the faithful

Pope Francis began Holy Week rites with the liturgical celebration of a special Palm Sunday, taking place inside St. Peter’s Basilica and not in the Vatican square, as usual.

Only a small group of religious accompanied the Pope, who respected the safety distance at all times, and the liturgy was held at the altar of the chair in St. Peter’s Basilica, and not under the canopy.

It will be a different Easter in which Francis will celebrate without the faithful and those who want to participate will have to do it from home, through the media or social networks.

The appearance of the new coronavirus, responsible for the covid-19 pandemic and which in Italy has already caused more than 15,000 deaths, forced the Vatican to take preventive measures to prevent contagion and in March it was decided to temporarily close the Vatican square and basilica .