More than 11 million people tuned in to watch Pope Francis deliver a blessing in an empty Saint Peter’s Square, television bosses have said, as the Italian prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, said the EU risked losing its purpose.
The pope’s blessing, Urbi et Orbi(To the city and the world)is usually reserved for Christmas Day and Easter Sunday, with thousands flocking to take part.
Images of the cloudy sky and the glistening square on Saturday, with the pope, alone, praying upon a platform illuminated by the faint light of six candelabras, travelled the world over. “For weeks now it has been evening,” he said. “Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives.”
“The pandemic has reminded us that we are all in the same boat,” he added. “The storm exposes our vulnerability and uncovers those false and superfluous certainties around which we have constructed our daily schedules.”
“And now that we are in a stormy sea, we implore you: wake up, Lord!”
The hour-long blessing, which started at 6pm on Friday, was punctuated by moments of dramatic silence with the pope, standing, intent on praying, behind the famous “Miraculous Crucifix”, a wooden cross kept in the Church of Saint Marcellus which, according to devout Roman Catholics, saved Rome from the plague in 1522.
According to official data from the broadcasting groups Rai, Sky and TV2000, the event was viewed by more than 11 million people. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus emergency in Italy, the number of viewers of live broadcasts of the pope’s prayers has increased, in part because the government’s stringent measures to halt the spread of coronavirus include the cessation of all masses, funerals and weddings.