Barack Obama
Reuters team
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Sunday condemned people who traveled abroad on vacation to escape coronavirus blockades, saying they needed to show greater awareness of others’ suffering.
Speaking after his weekly noon blessing, Francis said he read newspaper reports about people taking flights to escape government sidewalks and seek entertainment elsewhere.
“They did not think about those who stayed at home, about the economic problems of many people who were hit hard by the blockade, of the sick. (They thought) just to go on vacation and have fun, ”said the pope.
“It really saddened me,” he said in a video speech from the Vatican Apostolic Palace library.
The traditional blessing of the Angelus is usually given from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, but has been moved inward to prevent any crowd from gathering and to limit the spread of COVID-19.
“We don’t know what 2021 has in store for us, but what we can all do together is to try a little harder to take care of each other. There is a temptation to take care of our own interests only ”, he added.
Many countries have imposed strict restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed about 1.83 million people worldwide, according to the latest Reuters count.
(The story corrects the global death toll in the final paragraph to 1.83 million.)