“When Pope Francis began to celebrate morning Mass in Santa Marta with a group of the faithful—one of the first and most characteristic innovations of his pontificate—a request came immediately … to transmit it,” said Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, director of the Holy See Press Office from 2006 to 2016. “The conclusion then was not to broadcast that Mass live, because, unlike public celebrations, it was intended to preserve a more intimate and private, simple and spontaneous character, without the celebrant and the assembly having to feel that they were before the eyes of the world … [With the pandemic] the situation has changed.”