Pope Francis baptizes a child in the Sistine Chapel on Jan. 12, 2020. Credit: Vatican Media.
Vatican City, Jan 5, 2021 / 05:10 am (CNA).- Pope Francis will not baptize babies in the Sistine Chapel this Sunday due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Holy See press office announced Jan. 5 that the newborns would be baptized instead in their home parishes.
“Due to the health situation, as a precautionary measure, the traditional baptism of children presided over by the Holy Father in the Sistine Chapel on the Sunday of the Baptism of the Lord will not be celebrated this year,” the press office said.
More than 75,000 people have died in Italy from COVID-19 — the highest number of any country in Europe. The Italian government is currently considering further restrictions amid a second wave of the virus.
St. John Paul II began the papal tradition of baptizing children in the Sistine Chapel, the site of papal conclaves, on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
On last year’s feast day, Pope Francis baptized 32 infants — 17 boys and 15 girls — born to Vatican employees.
He told the parents that they should not worry if their children cry at Mass.
“Let the children cry,” the pope said. “It is a beautiful homily when a child cries in church, a beautiful homily.”
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Vatican City, Sep 11, 2020 / 05:45 am (CNA).- Archbishop Georg Gänswein, prefect of the papal household and personal secretary to Benedict XVI, has been hospitalized in Rome.
CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German language news partner, reported S… […]
This year Pope Francis did not walk in the Eucharistic procession, but joined at the end for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and to offer the Eucharistic blessing. / Credit: Elizabeth Alva/EWTN News
Rome, Italy, Jun 2, 2024 / 16:44 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis gave a solemn blessing with the Blessed Sacrament from the steps of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major on Sunday in the culmination of a Eucharistic procession through the streets of Rome.
Holding the monstrance in his hands, the pope offered the blessing on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi on June 2 following prayers of adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
Crowds lined the streets as the Eucharist was carried under a canopy from the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran to the Basilica of St. Mary Major along the Via Merulana, following the historic route Pope Gregory XIII created for religious processions between the two basilicas during the Jubilee of 1575.
Cardinals, bishops, priests, religious sisters, and families walked together in the one-hour procession singing hymns and reciting prayers. Curious tourists stopped to ask what was happening and onlookers leaned out their windows to watch as the real presence of Christ passed by.
“Beginning from the altar, we will carry the Consecrated Host among the homes of our city,” Pope Francis told the congregation in his homily for the Corpus Christi Mass before the procession.
“We are not doing this to show off, or to flaunt our faith but to invite everyone to participate, in the Bread of the Eucharist, in the new life that Jesus has given us,” he said.
“We are not doing this to show off, or to flaunt our faith,” said Pope Francis in his homily before the procession, “but to invite everyone to participate in the Bread of the Eucharist, in the new life that Jesus has given us.”. Credit: Elizabeth Alva/EWTN News
It was the first time that Pope Francis participated in Corpus Christi celebrations in Rome in years.
Health issues prevented the pope from participating in a public Corpus Christi Mass in Rome in 2023 and 2022 and COVID-19 restrictions limited his celebration to Vatican City in 2021 and 2020.
This year Pope Francis did not walk in the Eucharistic procession, but joined at the end for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and to offer the Eucharistic blessing to the crowd.
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith, served as the primary celebrant at the altar for the Mass at the Lateran basilica. Bishop Baldassare Reina, the vicegerent of the diocese of Rome, carried the Eucharist in the procession.
Cardinals, bishops, priests, religious sisters, and families walked together in the one-hour procession singing hymns and reciting prayers. Credit: Courtney Mares / Catholic News Agency
The last time that the pope led the Corpus Christi procession along the traditional Roman route from the Lateran basilica to St. Mary Major was seven years ago in 2017.
“The Eucharistic bread is the real presence,” Pope Francis said in his homily. “This speaks to us of a God who is not distant and jealous, but close and in solidarity with humanity; a God who does not abandon us but always seeks, waits for, and accompanies us, even to the point of placing himself, helpless, into our hands, subjecting himself to our acceptance or rejection.”
“Dear brothers and sisters, how much need there is in our world for this bread,” Francis said.
“It is urgent to bring back to the world the good and fresh aroma of the bread of love, to continue to hope and rebuild without ever growing weary of what hatred destroys.”
As a special case, the children of those parents could be invited to make their first communion at the venue they have been denied on account of the virus.
As a special case, the children of those parents could be invited to make their first communion at the venue they have been denied on account of the virus.