Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
A woman wearing a protective face mask takes a picture as she visits the Vatican Museums June 1, 2020. The Vatican has announced that museums and necropolis tours will be closed to the public from Nov. 5-Dec. 3 as Italy faces increased Covid-19 cases and restrictions. (CNS photo/Guglielmo Mangiapane, Reuters)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As Covid-19-related deaths in Italy reached their highest daily level since early May and Italy began enacting new restrictions to slow the spread, the Vatican decided it will once again close its museums to the public.

The Vatican Museums, the necropolis tours and the museum of the pontifical villas at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, will be closed to the public Nov. 5-Dec. 3 "as a precautionary measure," a Vatican communique said Nov. 4.

Pope Francis' weekly general audience also returned to being livestreamed from the library of the Apostolic Palace Nov. 4 after taking place with the public present since Sept. 2.

Someone attending the general audience Oct. 21 tested positive for Covid-19, and the Vatican announced that beginning Nov. 4, the audiences would be livestreamed without visitors present to prevent "any possible future risks to the health of the participants."

The announcement came the same day the Italian government announced new restrictions. Health authorities registered a total of 28,244 new cases of Covid-19 on Nov. 3 and 353 Covid-related deaths in the previous 24 hours.

From Nov. 5 to Dec. 3, there will be a nationwide curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., and the country's regions will be classified into red, orange and yellow zones based on data including infection rates and availability of hospital beds.

Red zones will see some form of lockdown with a stop to nonessential movement and many public activities.

Masks already were mandatory outdoors and in public buildings; gyms and theaters had already been closed across Italy; cafes and restaurants have been required to close at 6 p.m.; and people were strongly advised to not have more than six visitors in their homes.

We don’t have comments turned on everywhere anymore. We have recently relaunched the commenting experience at America and are aiming for a more focused commenting experience with better moderation by opening comments on a select number of articles each day.

But we still want your feedback. You can join the conversation about this article with us in social media on Twitter or Facebook, or in one of our Facebook discussion groups for various topics.

Or send us feedback on this article with one of the options below:

We welcome and read all letters to the editor but, due to the volume received, cannot guarantee a response.

In order to be considered for publication, letters should be brief (around 200 words or less) and include the author’s name and geographic location. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

We open comments only on select articles so that we can provide a focused and well-moderated discussion on interesting topics. If you think this article provides the opportunity for such a discussion, please let us know what you'd like to talk about, or what interesting question you think readers might want to respond to.

If we decide to open comments on this article, we will email you to let you know.

If you have a message for the author, we will do our best to pass it along. Note that if the article is from a wire service such as Catholic News Service, Religion News Service, or the Associated Press, we will not have direct contact information for the author. We cannot guarantee a response from any author.

We welcome any information that will help us improve the factual accuracy of this piece. Thank you.

Please consult our Contact Us page for other options to reach us.

City and state/province, or if outside Canada or the U.S., city and country. 
When you click submit, this article page will reload. You should see a message at the top of the reloaded page confirming that your feedback has been received.

The latest from america

Pope Leo XIV greets religious sisters during a meeting with officials and employees of the Roman Curia, Vatican City State and the Diocese of Rome in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican May 24, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Describing the Curia as the institution that preserves “the historical memory of the church,” Pope Leo called on these Vatican employees to “work together” with him “in the great cause of unity and love.”
Gerard O’ConnellMay 24, 2025
Paola Ugaz, a Peruvian journalist who helped expose the abuse committed by leaders of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, gives Pope Leo XIV a stole made of alpaca wool, during the pope's meeting with members of the media May 12, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope Leo offered a heartening message for a global media that has endured a pretty awful year.
Kevin ClarkeMay 23, 2025
If you think our enthusiasm for our basketball team was intense, just wait until you see our support for Pope Leo XIV.
Jack DoolinMay 23, 2025
“I don’t think he’s the kind of man who sends coded messages,” Cardinal Michael Czerny says in this exclusive interview with Gerard O’Connell.
Gerard O’ConnellMay 23, 2025