Rome, Italy, Dec 8, 2021 / 01:17 am
Pope Francis made an early morning visit on Wednesday to the statue of the Immaculate Conception in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna.
The pope made the private visit shortly after 6 a.m. on Dec. 8, days after the Vatican announced that, for the second consecutive year, he would not make his customary public afternoon trip to the site on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception due to the pandemic.
Pope Francis began the feast of the Immaculate Conception by bringing white flowers to Our Lady at 6:15 am by the Spanish Steps. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/2pYXraixK3
— Courtney Mares (@catholicourtney) December 8, 2021
The Vatican said on Nov. 27 that, in place of a public visit, Pope Francis would mark the feast day by asking the Virgin Mary in prayer “to protect the Romans, the city in which they live, and the sick who need Her maternal protection everywhere in the world.”