Rome Newsroom, Jan 11, 2022 / 05:00 am (CNA).
An Italian bishop has prohibited unvaccinated priests and lay people from distributing Communion as Italy tightens its COVID-19 restrictions.
Bishop Giacomo Cirulli of the southern Italian diocese of Teano-Calvi and Alife-Caiazzo issued a letter on Jan. 8 with new rules to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
“I prohibit the distribution of the Eucharist by priests, deacons, religious and lay people who are not vaccinated,” the bishop wrote.
“With regard to vaccines, let me recall what Pope Francis said: ‘Getting vaccinated … is an act of love. And helping to ensure that the majority of people get vaccinated is an act of love. Love for yourself, love for family and friends, love for all peoples,’” he said.
In the letter, Cirulli also issued the suspension of all in-person pastoral, catechetical and formative activities in his diocese.
Cirulli graduated from medical school in Naples before becoming a priest. The 69-year-old bishop was hospitalized with COVID-19 in November 2020 and recovered.
He asked Catholics in his diocese to abide by the COVID-19 restrictions issued by the Italian government.
New Italian government restrictions came into force this week banning unvaccinated citizens from entering restaurants, public transportation, gyms, theaters, and sports events.
“Most of the problems we are facing today are due to the fact that there are unvaccinated people,” Prime Minister Mario Draghi said at an evening press conference on Jan. 10.
Draghi’s government made it mandatory last October for all employees in Italy to show either proof of vaccination or a negative test before entering the workplace each week.
The Italian government also announced last week that it will impose mandatory vaccination for every person over the age of 50, regardless of employment, starting Feb. 15.
More than 86% of people over the age of 12 in Italy are fully vaccinated, according to health authorities.
Amid the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, there were more than 100,000 new cases of COVID-19 recorded in Italy each day for the past five days.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Wall Street Journal Tuesday,January 11,2022
Mexican Leader Gets Covid a Second Time
Mexico’s President Andes Manuel Lopez Obrador has contacted Covid-19 a second time, making him one of the first major world leaders to contract the virus twice.
The president, who has three doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, said on Twitter late Monday that he tested positive, had only minor symptoms and would Isolate and continue his work remotely. He said Adin Augusta Lopez Hernandez, Mexico’s Interior minister, would represent him in the news conference and other official acts in his absence.
Earlier in the day, he held a two-hour news conference without a mask and despite saying he had coldlike symptoms and a cough. “Yes, I woke up hoarse, I’ll take a [Covid-19] test later, but I think it’s just a cold,” he said when asked by a journalist why he sounded sick.
During the press conference, he talked about the importance of people assuming they were sick with Covid-19 if they had coldlike symptoms. “If you’re vaccinated, and you get sick with something that seems like Covid, assume it is Covid”, he said.
The 68-year old president who initially played down Covid-19 as no worse than flu and encouraged Mexicans to keep socializing, got Covid-19 last January and was out for nearly two weeks