Vatican City, 29 October, 2020 / 10:00 am (ACI Africa).
After nine weeks of public general audiences, Pope Francis’ weekly gathering will again take place behind closed doors, the Vatican said Thursday.
The decision to move back to a livestream-only format was made after at least one person in attendance at the pope’s Oct. 21 audience was discovered to have been positive for COVID-19, according to the Vatican.
Starting Wednesday, Nov. 4, Francis will give his general audience catechesis and greetings via live video from his study in the Apostolic Palace, “in order to avoid any future health risks for participants.”
From Sept. 2, members of the public were permitted again to attend his weekly audience at the Vatican, after a more than six-month break.
He had been livestreaming the Wednesday audience from his study since March, when the coronavirus outbreak led Italy and other countries to impose lockdowns to slow down the virus’ spread.