Pope holds his first virtual general audience with Italy on lockdown due to coronavirus
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis, holed up in the Vatican by Italy’s coronavirus epidemic, held his first virtual general audience on Wednesday, thanking medical staff but urging the world not to forget the plight of Syrian refugees.
But the square was empty on Wednesday as the Vatican, which is surrounded by Rome, adhered to a national lockdown aimed at stopping the virus by outlawing gatherings in public. Francis, who has suspended all similar public appearances, said he felt close to “all the sick people who have contracted the virus and are suffering from sickness and the many who are suffering from uncertainty”.
But, speaking without prepared remarks, he said that “this pain, this epidemic,” should not make the world forget about Syrian refugees on the Greek-Turkish border.“They are a people who have been suffering for years. They have to escape from war, hunger and illness. Let’s not forget our brothers and sisters, so many children who are suffering there,” he said.
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