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Pope Francis to Hold General Audience Again to Limited Public

Sabina Castelfranco

   ROME - The Vatican has announced that the faithful will be readmitted
   to the general audiences Pope Francis holds on Wednesday as the Holy
   See slowly begins easing restrictions imposed by COVID-19. Francis has
   spoken about the pandemic on various occasions including the past week
   when he said it has both "exposed and aggravated" social inequalities.
   Sabina Castelfranco has more for VOA.

   For more than six months, due to COVID-19, Pope Francis has been
   holding his customary Wednesday general audiences in his private
   library inside the Vatican and the faithful all over the world were
   able to receive his message streamed online, but no one was present.

   The Vatican announced that as it begins easing restrictions imposed by
   the coronavirus, a limited number of faithful would start to be
   readmitted to the papal audiences starting Wednesday. The audiences
   will not be held in Saint Peter's Square as in the past, but in a
   closed courtyard of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace.

   There will be a maximum number of 500 seats available in the courtyard
   and entry to the area will open two hours ahead of the scheduled start
   of the audience.

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