Pope Francis says anti-maskers stuck ‘in their own little world of self-interest’

Pope Francis has criticised “anti-maskers” and those protesting lockdown restrictions during the pandemic, part of a range of comments made in a new book based on his conversations with his biographer.

In the book that will be published next month, the pope reflects on the resistance towards public safety measures and guidelines around the world during the Covid-19 crisis.

“Some groups protested, refusing to keep their distance, marching against travel restrictions – as if measures that governments must impose for the good of their people constitute some kind of political assault on autonomy or personal freedom,” he said.

Entitled Let Us Dream: the Path to a Better Future, the book is ghost-written by Austen Ivereigh and is largely centred on the pope’s views of 2020 events and particularly the coronavirus pandemic.