Pope on first trip out of Rome since virus blockade

Pope Francis makes his first trip on Saturday since the coronavirus lockdown at the Vatican, although it will be a lonely affair for the crowd-loving Argentine who has had to learn to be close to the faithful from a distance.

Francis will travel to Assisi, the birthplace of his homonymous saint, where he will sign his new encyclical, a document that sets out the Pope’s views on key issues, called “Fratelli tutti”, on the importance of fraternity, particularly in these Covid-19. times.

The Vatican has said it will be a private visit to reduce health risks, both for Catholics who tend to crowd the streets on such occasions, holding babies aloft to kiss them, and for the elderly pontiff.

As the virus, which has killed more than a million people worldwide, began to spread around the world earlier this year, Francis reached out via a live-streamed mass, performed only on the St. Peter’s Square.

“A dense darkness has taken over our squares, our streets and our cities,” he said in the historic March speech, describing the coronavirus “storm” as having put everyone “in the same boat” as a heavy rain fell. around it.

That, and his solitary walk through the deserted streets of Rome to pray in two churches for the end of the pandemic, captured his isolation, but were also seen by Catholics and non-Catholics alike as signs of solidarity and hope.

The confinement of the Pope

Saturday’s pilgrimage to the Basilica of San Francisco, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, marks a milestone in the Pope’s slow return to normalcy.

Francis, 83, showed little fear when the virus broke out in Italy in late February, though he was forced to avoid his usual practice of shaking hands.

Apart from having a cold at first, his health has remained good. More worrying was the frail Benedict XVI, who resigned in 2013 and lives in the Vatican as “pope emeritus.”

In the end, the 93-year-old left a post-closure Vatican before Francis, and headed for his native Bavaria in June next to the bedside of his 96-year-old brother, Georg, who died shortly after.

Vatican staff have worked hard to protect both the former and current pope.

Francisco opted for his choice in 2013 to live in the state’s small “Santa Marta” guesthouse, rather than the papal apartments, and was used to dining in the building’s shared dining room. It was not clear if he then stopped eating in company.

Coming out

“Everyone works in their office or from their room, using technology. Everyone is working; there are no loafers here, ”the pontiff said in an interview with papal biographer Austen Ivereigh in April.

That included Francis, who broadcast his daily Masses live from Santa Marta, as well as the weekly Angelus prayers and talks for the general audience.

Priests were reminded that their mission was to “get out,” which many did through social media or video calls.

While the blockade on Italy and the Vatican was gradually lifted starting in May, Francis remained caged.

Instead, his closest aides, the chiefs of diplomacy, Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, traveled abroad instead.

Now it’s your turn. While there will be no papal trips abroad this year, for the first time since 1979, the excursion to Assisi is expected to serve to recharge the batteries of a man who believes that a priest’s place is with his flock.