REGINA CÆLI POPE
FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square – Sunday, 30
April 2017
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Dramatic news continues to reach us regarding the
situation in Venezuela and the worsening of clashes there, with many people
reported dead, injured and detained. I share in the pain of the families, to
whom I ensure my prayers of intercession, and I appeal to the government and
all the members of Venezuelan society to avoid any further forms of violence,
to respect human rights and to negotiate solutions to the serious humanitarian,
social, political and economic crisis that is exhausting the population. Let us
entrust to the Most Holy Virgin Mary a prayer intention for peace,
reconciliation and democracy in that dear country. And let us pray for all the
countries that are beset by difficulties; I am thinking in particular in these
days, of the Republic of Macedonia.
Leopoldina Naudet, Foundress of the Sisters of the Holy
Family, was beatified yesterday [29 April] in Verona. She was brought up at the
Court of Habsburg, first in Florence and then in Vienna, and, even as a girl,
possessed a strong vocation to prayer and to the educational field. She was
consecrated to God and, following various experiences, succeeded in establishing
a new religious community in Verona, under the protection of the Holy Family,
which is still active in the Church today. Let us join them in their joy and
their thanksgiving.
Today, Italy marks the Day of the Catholic University of
the Sacred Heart. I encourage you to support this important institution which
continues to invest in the formation of young people in order to improve the
world.
Christian formation is based on the Word of God. For this
reason, I would also like to recall that “Biblical Sunday” is taking place in
Poland today. Part of the Holy Scripture is read out in public in parish
churches, schools and over the media. I wish all the best for this initiative.
And you, dear friends from Catholic Action, at the
end of this encounter, I sincerely thank you for coming! And through you, I
also greet all your parish groups, families, children and young people and the
elderly. Keep moving forward!
I extend my greetings to the pilgrims who have joined us
at this time for the Marian Prayer, especially those who have come from Spain,
Croatia, Germany, and Puerto Rico. Together, let us turn to our Mother Mary.
Let us thank her particularly for the Apostolic Visit to Egypt which
I have just completed. I ask the Lord to bless the entire Egyptian population,
[which was] so welcoming, the authorities and the Christian and Muslim
faithful. May He bring peace to that
country.
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Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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