MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th March, 2020) Week-long Easter Liturgical Celebrations, which are to start on April 5 and usually attended by thousands of people, will be held in the Vatican without the physical presence of the congregation due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Prefecture of the Papal Household has said in a statement.
"The Prefecture of the Pontifical Household announces that, because of the current global public health emergency, all the Liturgical Celebrations of Holy Week will take place without the physical presence of the faithful. Furthermore, this Prefecture informs that until April 12 the General Audiences and the Angelus presided over by the Holy Father will be available only in live streaming on the official Vatican news website," the prefecture said.
Earlier this week, the Holy See said that Saint Peter's Square and Basilica in the Vatican City were closed for tourists in a bid to prevent the further spread of the disease. At the same time, the mobile unit of the Vatican Post Office in Saint Peter's Square, the two sale points of the Libreria Editrice Vaticana, the Photographic Service of L'Osservatore Romano, would remain accessible online, and the clothing warehouse would remain closed until April 3.
