Cooler but still well above normal this week

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

To a world upended by the coronavirus, Pope Francis offered a timeless message during a Christmas Eve Mass that was itself shaped by the ongoing pandemic.

The Mass was celebrated in a smaller rear section of St. Peter's Basilica, and only 100 or so people were present, Reuters reported. In normal times without a pandemic, the Mass is celebrated in the main part of the basilica before some 10,000 people.

All in attendance wore masks except for the pontiff and a small choir. Those in the pews sat at a distance from one another.

The Mass began two hours earlier than is traditional, so that those attending could make it home by the 10 p.m. curfew in place as part of Italy's measures to stem the pandemic. The service was 

 on Thursday, the first of three such periods between Christmas Eve and Jan. 6, following a steep increase in COVID-19

cases in recent weeks. On Wednesday, Italy 

13,908 new confirmed cases and 553 deaths.

"The birth of Jesus is the 'newness' that enables us to be reborn each year, and to find, in Him, the strength needed to face every trial," the pontiff said in his homily, 

He also spoke of the need to help those in poverty, reflected on "our injustice toward so many of our brothers and sisters" — and offered a reminder Jesus was himself an outcast.

"The Son of God was born an outcast, in order to tell us that every outcast is a child of God," Francis said, according to Reuters.

"God came among us in poverty and need, to tell us that in serving the poor, we will show our love for him.”

Religion and Faith

Health

COVID-19

Laurel Wamsley

Author

Only 100 or so people attended the service, and they wore masks and socially distanced. The Mass began two hours early so all could make it home before Italy's virus curfew.

At the Vatican, a Christmas Eve Mass shaped by the pandemic

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox