VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has blamed “this lady called COVID” for forcing him to keep his distance again from the faithful during his general audience, which was far smaller than usual amid soaring coronavirus infections in Italy.Francis again eschewed a protective mask Wednesday even when he greeted a few maskless clergymen at the end of his audience.
While the prelates wore masks throughout the hour-long audience, they took them off when they lined up to shake Francis’ hand and speak briefly with him one-on-one.A Vatican official who is a key member of Francis’ COVID-19 response commission, the Rev.