Pope Francis celebrated Christmas Eve mass before an estimated 1,500 people in St. Peter’s Basilica on Friday, going ahead with the service despite a resurgence in COVID-19 cases in Italy, which has prompted a new vaccine mandate for Vatican employees.
A maskless Francis proceeded down the central aisle of the basilica as the Sistine Chapel choir sang Noel, kicking off the Christmas holiday that commemorates the birth of Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem. Participation in the event was once again restricted by COVID-19, so that the congregation was only about a fifth of the size of what it was in pre-pandemic years.
Francis —
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