Rome Newsroom, Apr 20, 2020 / 09:53 am
After receiving more than 300 letters during the coronavirus pandemic, the Italian bishops will entrust the nation to Mary's protection on Friday, May 1, at a shrine in northern Italy.
In a video message April 20, the president of the Italian bishops' conference said he received "more than 300 letters, full of love, and of devotion to the consolations of the Virgin Mary."
Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti said these letters asked "why do you not dedicate our nation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary? All of the people who suffer because of this pandemic, all those who work in the hospitals and must take care of their neighbor, why not entrust the whole nation to Mary?"
Bassetti noted that it is the task of pastors to guide their flocks, "but often it is the flock, the Christian people, who push their pastors, as occurred in this case."