Religion

Pope Francis Holds First Public Audience Since The Lockdowns — And Doesn’t Wear A Mask

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Pope Francis held a public audience Wednesday for the first time since February, appearing before the public without a mask.

Papal audiences normally take place in St. Peter’s Square, the Wall Street Journal reported, but Wednesday’s papal audience took place in the smaller Apostolic Palace courtyard.

Around 500 tourists and members of the faithful attended the audience seated in plastic chairs spaced about three feet apart, according to the publication.

Neither Pope Francis nor his entourage wore face masks though members of the audience wore masks, and the venue allowed attendees to have a closer experience with the pope than most visitors experience, according to the WSJ.

“The current pandemic has highlighted our interdependence,” Pope Francis told the crowd. “We are all linked to each other, for better or for worse.”

“But when we forget all this, our interdependence becomes the dependence of some on others, increasing inequality and marginalization,” he added, WSJ reported.

The pope said that he felt like a “pope in a cage” in March, regarding his confinement due to the pandemic, according to the WSJ.

“Drastic measures are not always good,” Pope Francis said March 13 after the Diocese of Rome said all churches would be closed, according to the Catholic News Agency.

“Let’s pray for this, that the Holy Spirit may give to pastors the ability for pastoral discernment so that they might provide measures which do not leave the holy, faithful people of God alone, and so that the people of God will feel accompanied by their pastors, comforted by the Word of God, by the sacraments, and by prayer.”