A pause for prayer, according to tradition, in the “strong time” of Lent. Once again, as reported by the Vatican Press Office in a note, Francis invites the cardinals residing in Rome, the heads of the dicasteries, and the superiors of the Roman Curia, to personally experience the beginning of this phase of the year liturgical, with a period of spiritual exercises from the afternoon of Sunday, February 18 to the afternoon of Friday the 23rd. During that week, the note states, that all the Pope’s commitments will be suspended, including the general audience on Wednesday, February 21.

Therefore, this year, as has happened since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, the personal modality of the Lenten retreat will be repeated, unlike in previous years and since the beginning of the pontificate, with the spiritual exercises lived communally by the Pope and his collaborators of the Curia in Ariccia, guests of the Divine Master House directed by the Pauline Sisters.