Caution, cancellations mark Ash Wednesday in time of virus

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis celebrated the Ash Wednesday ritual kicking off the Catholic Church’s Lenten season in traditional fashion, while other Masses in northern Italy were canceled over fears of the new coronavirus.

Francis and a long line of priests, bishops and cardinals processed through Rome’s Aventine hill into the 5th-century Santa Sabina basilica for the late-afternoon Mass. Neither the priests nor the faithful were wearing masks, and they all exchanged a sign of peace toward the end of the liturgy. But Rome has largely been spared Italy’s outbreak so far.

Other Catholic countries took precautions. In the Philippines — Asia’s only majority Roman Catholic country — priests sprinkled ashes on the heads of the faithful rather than making the mark of the cross on their foreheads to avoid physical contact.