Praying with the Pope, 'Urbi et Orbi' during coronavirus
Coronavirus: Praying with the Pope from the Vatican
The Pope's special Urbi et Orbi blessing has concluded. “For weeks now it has been evening,” said the Pope. “Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void, that stops everything as it passes by; we feel it in the air, we notice it in people’s gestures, their glances give them away.”
What is revealed in these times, he said, is "our belonging as brothers and sisters."
The Pope should be taking to the stage now any minute. They're talking through the crucifix and what happened during the plague. Crazy times to think that we are talking about another such scenario with the coronavirus.
Before the Pop begins to pray, you can read our coverage of the current situation.
Coronavirus live: UK PM Johnson tests positive.
A running order of tonight's mass.
The Pope was recently tested for coronavirus but reports in Italy say the tests came back negative.
If you missed that mass on Wednesday and want to catch up on what the Pope said along with the prayers during the service, you can watch it here.
Of course, these are unprecedented times. The Pope spoke on Wednesday and highlighted the vulnerable and elderly during the coronavirus crisis:
“The fear of the elderly who are alone in nursing homes, or hospitals, or in their own homes, and don't know what will happen. The fear of those who don’t have regular jobs and are thinking about how to feed their children. They foresee they may go hungry. The fear of many civil servants. At this moment they're working to keep society functioning and they might get sick. There’s also the fear, the fears, of each one of us. Each one knows what their own fears are. We pray to the Lord that He might help us to trust, and to tolerate and conquer these fears.”
Join Pope Francis in prayer and receive his extraordinary “Urbi et orbi” blessing and plenary indulgence on Friday at 6pm Rome time. This comes after Wednesday's live-streamed ceremony during which Christians of all denominations were able to join the Pope in praying the “Our Father” in this time of global crisis and fear due to the Covid-19 pandemic.