Pope Francis tells politicians to put country before party amid anti-coronavirus fight

Pope Francis has urged politicians to put aside partisan differences and deal with the coronavirus crisis in a united way. Francis’ private morning Mass has been transmitted live on television for the past six weeks, ever since the outbreak took hold in Italy.

The Mass is attended by only a few close aides, instead of the usual several dozen guests. “We pray today for men and women who have a political vocation,” he said at the start of the Mass on Monday, adding that “politics is a high form of charity.”

“[We pray] for the political parties of various countries, so that in this time of pandemic, they together seek the good of the country and not the good of their own party,” he noted. The leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Roman Catholics did not name any countries or politicians, Reuters said.

On Sunday, Francis called for an all-embracing vision of the world after the Covid-19 crisis, saying moving on without global solidarity or excluding some from the recovery would result in “an even worse virus.”