These changes correspond to Italian government restrictions on large public gatherings to limit transmission of coronavirus.

Lyon Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, 69, had offered to resign when the Lyon court in March 2019 first convicted him and gave him a six-month suspended sentence for failing to report the predator priest to police.

What became clear over these past seven years is Francis’ unrelenting commitment to creating opportunities for open and mutual encounters between him and others.

The normal services of the health and hygiene sector of the Vatican city-state were “temporarily suspended” following yesterday’s positive test for Covid-19 on one patient in order “to sanitize the areas.”

In a small indication of how rapidly the contagion is affecting Italy, by the time the Vatican spokesman sent his communique to the media, the number of victims had risen dramatically—the total number of cases rising to 3,858 and deaths to 148.

On this week’s “Inside the Vatican” podcast, Rome correspondent Gerard O’Connell describes the fear surrounding coronavirus that has gripped the Eternal City.