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Pope Francis’ decision to forgo wearing a mask has been noted with some concern by the Vatican commission of experts he appointed to help chart the path of the Roman Catholic Church through the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath.
The Rev. Augusto Zampini, one of the key members of the Pope’s coronavirus commission, acknowledged Tuesday that, at age 83 and with part of his lung removed after an illness in his youth, Francis would be at high risk of complications if would contract COVID-19.
“He has started wearing the mask now,” Zampini said in response to questions from reporters. “And I hope he uses it in the general public, when he’s around people. If you are in an open space, we know it is different. But hey, we are working on that. “
Francis has received some criticism for refusing to wear a mask indoors, despite Vatican regulations requiring masks both indoors and outdoors when social distancing cannot be guaranteed. While Francis’s lung condition might help explain his decision to forgo the mask, as a way to breathe unimpeded, he wore one for more than two hours last week when he presided over an indoor-outdoor ecumenical prayer service at the center of Rome.
However, the next day, Francis was left without a mask during his indoor general audience in the Vatican auditorium, even as he shook hands with a handful of equally maskless bishops and bowed to speak privately with each. On Saturday he met with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who arrived with a mask but removed it for the audience in the Pope’s library.
The photos of the unmasked leaders caused a slight stir in Spain over the weekend, but the prime minister’s office dismissed it, saying the delegation was following Vatican protocol. Spain last week became the first country in Western Europe to register more than 1 million confirmed cases of coronavirus.
The Vatican has refused to officially answer questions about Francis and the masks.
Zampini said the recent surge in infections in the small city-state has commission members and the Vatican in general concerned. Thirteen Swiss guards and a resident of the neighborhoods where Francis lives recently tested positive.
“We are very concerned,” Zampini said, noting that the Vatican has strict regulations on maintaining social distance and washing hands within the territory. “We have all the protocols in place, but we still have cases.”
However, he said the infections have helped the Vatican better understand the danger facing the world at large from the coronavirus.
The commission of experts is working to meet the current needs of the Catholic Church around the world with concrete acts of assistance, while developing policy recommendations on how governments and institutions can rethink economic, environmental, social and health structures. and of other global types to be more equitable and sustainable.
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