Pope Francis ushered in the New Year on Friday with a traditional blessing from the Angelus of the papal library, forcing a pain in the nerves that forced him to skip the New Year’s ceremonies in St. Peter’s Basilica.
The pope seemed relaxed while standing before a pulpit in the Apostolic Palace, wishing the faithful who watched by video “a year of peace, a year of hope”. He smiled at the camera as he repeated his usual closing, “don’t forget to pray for me”, and wishing everyone “a good lunch”.
Two people are in an empty St. Peter’s square in the Vatican while Pope Francis recites the Angelus midday prayer in his studio on Friday, January 1, 2021. (AP Photo / Alessandra Tarantino)
The papal blessing was transferred to the usual perch in a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square to discourage the crowds, as Italy is living under tougher COVID-19 restrictions this holiday season.
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The Vatican announced on Thursday that the pope would not preside over a New Year’s Eve prayer service, or New Year’s Day Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica because of “painful sciatica”.
Francis has spoken openly about his sciatica in the past. It is a form of pain in the lower part of the body caused by compression or irritation in the nerve roots or in the sciatic nerve, which extends from the lower part of the spine to the thigh.
At the conclusion of the Angelus, the pope called for peace in Yemen, where children live “without education, without medicine, with hunger”, and for the release of Rev. Moses Chikwe, bishop of the archdiocese of Owerri in Nigeria, who was kidnapped last Sunday by gunmen.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, in the center, arrives in procession to celebrate a New Year’s Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, Friday, January 1, 2021. (AP Photo / Alessandra Tarantino, swimming pool)
In his blessing on the Angelus, the pope said that “the pandemic has taught us how much it is necessary to interest us in the problems of others and share their concerns”.
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In the same vein, in a homily prepared to be delivered by the pope, but read by his secretary of state early Saturday, Francis wrote that there is a need for a “heart vaccine. This vaccine is the cure. It will be a good year if taking care of others. “
He said that peace can happen if everyone, everywhere, takes “by the hands of those who need a word of comfort, a gesture of tenderness” and “if we start to be at peace with ourselves and those who are close to us.” we”.