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Pope Francis says his prayers are now focused on asking for God’s help to end the coronavirus pandemic.

“I asked the Lord to stop the epidemic: ‘Lord, stop it with your hand.’ That’s what I prayed for,” the 83-year-old pontiff told La Repubblica newspaper in an interview published Wednesday.

Francis — who has been forced to livestream his prayers and services amid the contagion devastating Italy — also urged his followers to use “the pain of these days” to ditch “virtual” lives and gadgets for renewed intimacy with loved ones.

“Sometimes, we only experience a virtual form of communication with one another. Instead, we should discover a new closeness,” he said, comparing parents watching TV while their kids play on phones to “monks, all isolated from each other.”

The pope — who tested negative for COVID-19 after suffering from a lingering cold — stressed the importance of “tenderness, affection, compassion” that he says “make life meaningful.”

“We must rediscover the concreteness of little things, small gestures of attention we can offer those close to us, our family, our friends. We must understand that in small things lies our treasure,” he told the Italian paper.