As of May 4, small funerals will be allowed, individuals will be permitted to visit family members, most factories will reopen and people will be able to go to a restaurant to order food to take away.

Pope Francis wrote two new prayers to Mary that can be recited at the end of the rosary, prayers he said he would be reciting "in spiritual union with all of you."

In April, as Italy and the Vatican moved toward their seventh week in lockdown, Catholic News Service asked several people for their "post-pandemic resolutions."

On the recommendation of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life, Pope Francis is postponing the upcoming World Meeting of Families as well as World Youth Day by a year because of coronavirus.

The church and government in Italy are making plans which would allow for the gradual--though limited--resumption of public Masses and funerals.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, former Vatican press officer, reflects on how Pope Francis is able to reach out to the faithful via the media during the pandemic.

Pope Francis said he knows it is not easy to be creative as the lockdown drags on, "but don't run away, don't take refuge in escapism, which in this time is of no use to you."

In an interview April 4 with Vatican News, the cardinal said that despite the war, up to this point Christians in Syria celebrated Holy Week and Easter every year, "even under the risk of bombs and mortar attacks."

"We pray for the sick and their families, for health workers and those who help them, for civic leaders, police and volunteers and for the ministers of our communities," the pope said.

The decree was signed by Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the congregation, and by Archbishop Arthur Roche, secretary.