Pope guides locked-down world through virtual Easter

Church doors will be shut and the Vatican sealed off when Pope Francis leads 1.3 billion Catholics in Easter Sunday celebrations held under a worldwide coronavirus lockdown.

Fear and confusion in the face of a disease whose toll has unrelentingly climbed towards 100,000 are reshaping society and transforming the way religion is observed.

Even such hallowed traditions as the pope’s messages to the faithful on Saint Peter’s Square are being replaced by livestreamed prayers that Francis reluctantly records from the seclusion of his private library.