As of May 18, Italians were allowed to attend Mass once again, and St. Peter's Basilica was no exception. After taking necessary precautions, pilgrims were able to enter the basilica once again.
On May 21, St. Peter's Square also reopened. At the end of the month, on May 31, the pope prayed the Regina Coeli from the window of the Apostolic Palace. The last time he did this was on March 8.
POPE FRANCIS
“Today the square is open. We can see each other again! What a joy!”
Hours earlier, he celebrated the Pentecost Mass. There, he warned that the Holy Spirit is not present in the souls of narcissists.
POPE FRANCIS
“In this time of pandemic, how wrong narcissism is: the tendency to think only of our own needs, to be indifferent to those of others, and not to admit our own frailties and mistakes.”
Italy was reopening, but the wounds of the pandemic were still open. So the pope called for a rosary inside the Vatican Gardens. People who had seen the coronavirus's consequences up close, from patients to relatives of victims to nurses, participated.
In May, a significant gathering had to be suspended: the centenary of the birth of St. John Paul II. The pope was going to celebrate a large Mass in the Vatican, but circumstances forced a more limited event.
Once again, Pope Francis was obligated to celebrate Mass before a small group of people.
POPE FRANCIS
“(John Paul II) wasn't a man detached from the people. On the contrary, he went to visit people. He traveled the whole world, finding his people, looking for his people, becoming close to them.”
During the Mass, the World Youth Days' hymn and the Polish version of 'You Have Come to the Seashore' were played. John Paul II said this was the melody he felt in his heart when he was elected pope in the Sistine Chapel.
Javier Romero
Translation: Christian Campos
