voltarTHE MASS IS OVER
On 10 March 2020, the Italian government decreed the entry into force of the lockdown to limit the spread of Covid-19. One of the measures adopted was a temporary suspension of public religious practices, thus making impossible for the faithful to access places of worship as a community. For the Italian Catholic world these were days of great difficulty and doubt, which obliged the Church, as an institution, to reflect on its political role and its relationship with the State. In Rome, after the initial fear and dismay, the Catholic community took back his courage and has shown great vitality. For the first time, in the millennial history of the Eternal City, new practices of religious participation have been seen, such as prayers on live broadcast streaming or masses celebrated on the roofs of churches. Old and new ways that have already led some scholars to catalog them as “liturgical experiments”. What will remain most impressed in the collective memory of Catholics will probably be the evocative image of a solitary Pope advancing uncertainly in a deserted square. Yet, far from the spotlight of history, a small miracle took place in Rome. The Catholic people had to rediscover the deepest reasons for being a believer, they symbolically held hands with each other, and responded unitedly to a pandemic that shook the foundations of our socio-economic model.
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