Pope Francis urges to 'pray together' for inmates in crowded prisons amid COVID-19 crisis

Just a day after Pope Francis celebrated Palm Sunday Mass without any public, he took on Twitter to urge people to pray for prisoners on April 6 amid the unprecedented outbreak of the coronavirus. According to him, the inmates who remain in the overcrowded jails during these times of pandemic “will end up as a grave tragedy”. Pope Francis also said that people who are responsible for the situation of the prisoners should find a “creative way” to resolve the problem and urged the public to “pray together”.

Earlier, the 83-year-old pope had also said that a joint commitment against coronavirus would prompt people to recognize and build their fraternal ties stronger as  “members of one human family.” His payers are currently being live-streamed from inside the Vatican since early March after Peter’s square was shut amid coronavirus dread. As of April 6, the Vatican City 

The Pontiff reportedly even said that he had accepted United Nations General Secretary António Guterres’s appeal to call for a global ceasefire “which knows no borders” before inviting people to join the same. Urging the public to cease fighting, he called everyone to stop all kinds of war and hostility and promote the creation of a corridor for humanitarian aid, openness to diplomacy and attention to all vulnerable.

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Coronavirus outbreak

After originating from China’s “wet markets”, the coronavirus has now claimed over 69,480 lives worldwide as of April 6. According to the tally by international news agency, the pandemic has now spread to 208 countries and has infected at least 1,274,346 people. Out of the total infections, 264,838 have been recovered but the easily spread virus is continuing to disrupt many lives. Major cities have been put under lockdown in almost all countries and the economy is struggling. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared the coronavirus as a global pandemic on March 11 while the virus has now spread to all continents except Antarctica, resulting in thousands of deaths worldwide. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom further even urged all nations to get very serious over the issue and take all necessary measures to contain the virus from spreading at this rate. Tedros said, that the word 'Pandemic' cannot be used lightly or carelessly due to its strong connotation. 

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(Image Source: AP)