Pope prays at Great Plague church as Italy toll mounts

ROME, Italy, March 16 ------ Pope Francis left Vatican City on Sunday to pray in a Rome cathedral for coronavirus victims as Italy's death toll hit a one-day high of 368. The 83-year-old pontiff's unannounced visit to a church with a crucifix from the times of the Great Plague came with Italy's hospitals running out beds and the entire nation of 60 million under effective lockdown. Only occasional joggers and a few locals carrying grocery bags could be seen on the streets of Rome in what has fast become Italy's biggest crisis in several generations.

Official data showed the number of fatalities in the Mediterranean country shooting up by 368 to 1,809 -- more than half of all the fatal cases recorded outside China. The Vatican took the drastic step of cancelling Easter week celebrations that were set to begin on April 5 as the country braced for the worst. Pope Francis has been suffering from a cold for more than two weeks and communicating with the world's 1.3 billion Catholics via livestream. But the Vatican said the pontiff appeared at Rome's Santa Maria Maggiore basilica and then walked "on foot, as if on a pilgrimage" to the San Marcello al Corso church.

It explained that the pope selected the church because it holds a "miraculous crucifix which, in 1522, was carried in procession through city districts" to mark the end of the Great Plague. The pope prayed for "the end of the pandemic that affects Italy and the world, imploring for the healing of the many sick, and remembering the many victims," the Vatican said.

Source: philstar.com