ROME – Just a day after Cardinal Angelo De Donatis announced the unprecedented decision to close all the churches in the Diocese of Rome to stop the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19, Papal Almoner Cardinal Konrad Krajewski has done exactly the opposite: The Polish cardinal opened his titular church, Santa Maria Immacolata in Rome’s Esquiline neighborhood.
“It is the act of disobedience, yes, I myself put the Blessed Sacrament out and opened my church,” Krajewski told Crux.
“It did not happen under fascism, it did not happen under the Russian or Soviet rule in Poland – the churches were not closed,” he said, adding that “this is an act that should bring courage to other priests.”
It worked:
Later in the day the Rome diocese rolled back its order to close churches.
Blithe Spirit 