The It-Alert in Rome scares people. But it only reports the closing time of San Pietro

A strong acoustic signal and a sudden message on mobile phones: An alarm of the Civil Protection He took Roman citizens by surprise shortly after 1pm today, April 25th. The IT-ALERT, sent by the Civil Protection, has generated a lot of concern in the people who received it.

However, it was not – and fortunately – a report of an emergency state such as an earthquake, a natural disaster or a great accident, as the Romans feared for a few moments, but a notice relating to the closure of theAccess to St. Peter’s Square In Rome for the last farewell to Pope Francis, scheduled for 5 pm.

Through a message on Telegram, the Holy See then specified that “the Basilica of San Pietro, as already announced, will remain open until 7 pm. However, access to the row will be interrupted around 6 pm to guarantee compliance with the closing time and allow those who are waiting to enter the Basilica ».

In the meantime, he has opened on social networks yet another debate: “Is this use of civil protection alarm correct?”. According to many, not because the It-Art system was born to report serious emergencies and its use seems to be excessive for a communication linked to the closing hours of a square. The Civil Protection, for its part, has not issued comments, but considered the message to inform the citizenship on how to get the pope’s methods justified.

Today represents the second activation of the IT-Art system by the Civil Protection since it became operational, on February 13, 2024. The official debut had taken place on 9 December 2024, On the occasion of the accident in the Eni in Calenzano plantin the province of Florence, where five people lost their lives.

Actually already yesterday The newspaper he had published some indications contained in document of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Department of Civil Protection, Emergency Management Office, on the measures provided to manage the Funeral of Pope Francis. Among which the possibility of sending of Civil Protection alert messages. Reads the article: «The system can be activated during the event It-Alertwhich allows the sending of broadcast messages to all the people in the area. Through this system it will be possible to communicate, in multiple languages, useful information and indications on the rules of conduct. The messages of alert They will remain active on devices for a period of 24 hours ».