ANGELUS POPE FRANCIS
Visit in the city of Carpi and Mirandola, Italy Fifth
Sunday of Lent, 2 April 2017
APPEAL
I am deeply saddened by the tragedy that has struck
Colombia, where a gigantic mudslide, caused by torrential rains, engulfed the
city of Mocoa, claiming many lives and causing injuries. I pray for the victims
and assure my closeness and yours to those who are grieving the loss of their
loved ones, and I thank all those who are striving to render assistance.
News continues to arrive of the bloody armed conflicts in
the Kasai Region of the Democratic Republic of Congo: clashes which are
resulting in many deaths and forced displacement, and which have also struck
people and property of the Church: churches, hospitals, schools.... I assure my
closeness to this nation and I exhort everyone to pray for peace, that the
hearts of the perpetrators of these criminal acts do not remain slaves to
hatred and violence, because hatred and violence always destroy.
In addition, I am closely following the events in
Venezuela and Paraguay. I pray for those peoples, who are very dear to me, and
I invite everyone to tirelessly persevere, in avoiding all hostility, in
seeking political solutions.
Dear brothers and sisters, I would like to thank you for
coming here, to this Mass. I wish to thank everyone, all those who worked for
this double “marathon”: last Sunday [for the inauguration of the restored
Cathedral] and this Sunday. Thank you very much! And I would like to thank you,
sick people. There are 4,500 sick people here! Thank you, who, through your
suffering, help the Church to carry the Cross of Christ. Thank you! Thank you
very much!
At the end of this celebration, may our thoughts turn to
the Blessed Virgin, whom you venerate in the Cathedral Church dedicated to her.
Let us offer to Mary our joys, our sorrows and our hopes. Let us ask her to fix
her merciful gaze upon those among us who are suffering, particularly upon the
sick, the poor, and those who lack dignified work.
Recalling the apostolic zeal of the two lay figures of
your land, Blessed Odoardo Focherini and Venerable Marianna Saltini, witnesses
of Christ’s charity, I greet you with gratitude, dear lay people. I encourage
you to be protagonists in the life of your communities, in communion with your
priests: always focused on what is essential in proclaiming and witnessing to the
Gospel.
I thank you, dear Bishop Francesco, and all of you,
Bishops of the Emilia-Romagna Region, for your presence, and above all the
Pastor of this diocese, Bishop Francesco Cavina: I exhort you to stand
alongside your priests through listening, tenderness and attentive closeness.
Lastly, I would like to thank each and every one of you,
dear faithful, priests, men and women religious, the Authorities and, in a
special way, those who have contributed to the organization of this visit, with
a particular thought to agesci [Italian
Association of Catholic Guides and Scouts] and the choir, composed of all the
choirs of the diocese, which enlivened this liturgy.
Let us entrust our life and the future of the Church and
of the world to Mary, our Mother, reciting together the Angelus prayer.
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Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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