Despite his health problems, dad Francisco This afternoon he kept up the tradition of praying before the icon. Immaculate Conceptionn In the heart of Rome, next to the Spanish Embassy Holy See. He used the move to quell rumors about his poor health, having avoided speaking since Saturday 25 November due to bronchitis.
This Friday he was heard The voice is a bit weak, but the tone of the general audience has recovered a lot compared to the previous two days.At the door of the Spanish Legation, the ambassador listened to his speech and greeted him Isabel Serra The pope and his main collaborators attended a meeting earlier in the afternoon Immaculate Conception.
Francisco He limited himself to publishing the prayers written for the day, which included a lengthy petition for “all women who have suffered and remain victims of violence in this city, in Italy and around the world.” ».“You know them one by one, you know their faces,” the Pope continued. «Help us create a path of education and purification, to recognize and oppose the violence that lurks in our hearts and minds, and to ask God This gets us out of it,” he added.
Last year, while he was praying in the same place, he was so moved that his voice broke when he mentioned the wars in the world. Little did I know that twelve months later it would be even worse. As he admitted, “his heart was divided between hope and pain.” The Pope on Friday spoke generally of “the people unjustly oppressed and poverty, tested by war,” and then he refers to “tortured peoples Ukraine,arrive Palestinian people and israelisYes, I fell into the whirlpool of violence again.
He also remembered “the mothers who mourn their children killed by war and terrorism; dedicated to the mothers who watch their children embark on a desperate journey of hope,” referring to the migrant crisis; “dedicated to those who try to keep them People who have escaped the shackles of addiction, and those who are caring for children through long and difficult illnesses.”
Pick up the Angelus from the window
In the morning he had prayed the Angelus publicly again in a perfectly normal way, leaning out of the window. apostolic palace. The only difference from previous weeks was that the pope also came out with a coat.
«This afternoon I will go first santa maria la mayo“Then go to the Plaza de España and pray to the Virgin,” he communicated personally first thing in the morning to allay any doubts. “I ask everyone, especially the faithful in Rome, to spiritually unite these gestures of trust with Our Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, with a special prayer for peace, peace Ukrainepeace is Palestine and Israel, and all countries hurt by war,” he added. “We pray for peace, pray for peace of mind, pray for peace! ” he shouted.
In fact, the Pope also visited the temple Mayor of Santa Maria. As his two predecessors had done, he gave the temple a golden rose to decorate the icon. virgin mary It is revered there. Strangely, there is no trace of what they sent. Julius III 1551 and Paul V 1613, probably requisitioned by Napoleon’s troops at the end of the 18th century.
On the other hand, given the recent success«world conference for children» This morning, Francis announced at the Vatican that he called for a “Universal Day of Children” to be celebrated in Rome on May 25 and 26. As he progressed, his thinking was asking himself “What kind of world do we want to leave to our children?”