Pope Francis, pictured on Oct. 3, 2015. / Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk.
Vatican City, Mar 22, 2022 / 12:50 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis offered his “heartfelt condolences” on Tuesday after a Boeing 737 plane carrying 132 passengers crashed in hills in southern China.
The pope sent a condolence telegram to China’s President Xi Jinping on March 22 after China Eastern Airlines Flight MU5735 crashed on Monday in Guangxi province.
China’s Civil Aviation Administration said on Tuesday that rescuers had so far failed to discover any survivors.
The telegram sent on the pope’s behalf by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said: “Upon hearing the sad news of the tragic air accident in the province of Guangxi and the loss of human lives, His Holiness Pope Francis sends his heartfelt condolences to you and your fellow citizens.”
“He prays for those who perished and for the consolation of those who mourn. His Holiness invokes upon each one the Divine Blessing.”
China and the Holy See have not had diplomatic relations since 1951, following the Chinese Communist Revolution. But the two parties signed a provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops in 2018, which was renewed for a further two years in 2020.
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Vatican City, Apr 9, 2017 / 04:16 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After a bomb blast killed over 20 people and wounded several others during Palm Sunday celebrations in Egypt, Pope Francis voiced his closeness to the Coptic nation, and prayed for those who perpetrate violence through the arms trade.
After celebrating Palm Sunday Mass April 9, Pope Francis prayed for victims of “the attack that unfortunately took place today near Cairo,” voicing his closeness to Coptic Patriarch Pope Tawardos II, to and to the entire death Coptic nation.
“I express my heartfelt sorrow,” he said, and prayed that the Lord would “convert the hearts of those who sow fear, violence and death, and those who make and traffic arms.”
The Pope’s words came shortly after a bomb attack took place on the Coptic Christian Church of Mar Gerges in the northern city of Tanta, Egypt.
Islamic extremists target St George Cathedral, Tanta Egypt. Over 20 martyrs & 59 injured. It’s becoming our regular gift before feasts.
Worshippers had already packed the area to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass when the bomb was detonated. According to the Associated Press, at least 21 were killed and around 40 others wounded in the blast.
The attack took place just two weeks before Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Egypt April 28-29 in what is largely a bid to foster greater Catholic-Muslim dialogue, particularly on the point of ending extremist violence.
Francis offered his words of sorrow before leading pilgrims in the traditional Angelus prayer after Mass.
In his brief words before the prayer, he offered a special greeting to all those participating in WYD and their bishops, particularly those from Poland and Panama, and the Church and civil authorities who accompanied them to the Mass.
He also prayed for victims of the terrorist attacks that took place Friday, April 7, in Stockholm, when a 39-year-old Uzbek-native drove a large lorry truck into a department store, killing four and wounding 10, including a child.
Francis offered prayers for the victims as well as the many who are “still strongly tried by war, the tragedy of mankind.”
On the afternoon of Jan. 6, three Franciscan friars portrayed the Magi in Bethlehem. After the Second Vespers of the Epiphany, they descended in the Grotto of the Nativity, in Bethlehem, where they brought their gifts to the places of Jesus’ manifestation. / Credit: Marinella Bandini
Bethlehem, West Bank, Jan 7, 2024 / 11:00 am (CNA).
The Magi arrived in Bethlehem this year bearing their gifts, as the faithful held out their hands for grains of incense and drops of myrrh in the annual reenactment of the Epiphany by the Franciscan friars of the Custody of the Holy Land.
On the afternoon of Jan. 6, after the Second Vespers of the Epiphany and the adoration of the Baby Jesus in the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem, three Franciscan friars of the Custody of the Holy Land portraying the Magi, distributed gifts (only incense and myrrh) to the gathered faithful in the church and the cloister of St. Catherine church in Bethlehem. Credit: Marinella Bandini
The afternoon celebration on Jan. 6 brought together a small crowd of believers, young and old, in the Latin Church of Saint Catherine, part of the complex of the Basilica of the Nativity.
The Magi made their appearance for the recitation of the Second Vespers of the Epiphany, marking the conclusion of the solemnity and also the end of the Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem.
After the prayer, the friars, the Magi, and the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton, who presided over the prayer, descended into the Grotto of the Nativity, bringing gold, incense, and myrrh to the sacred place of Jesus’ manifestation.
The gold was in the form of the rose donated by Paul VI to the Basilica of the Nativity, carried as a tradition by the guardian of the Franciscan convent in Bethlehem, currently Father Luis Enrique Segovia. The Secretary of the Custody of the Holy Land, Father Alberto Pari, and the priest responsible for the friars’ infirmary, Father Jad Sara, carried the gifts of incense and myrrh, which they then distributed to the gathered faithful in the church and the cloister.
The three gifts of the Magi — gold, incense, and myrrh — were placed on the altar of the Church of Santa Caterina in Bethlehem during the celebration of the Second Vespers of the Epiphany, on the afternoon of Jan. 6. Credit: Marinella Bandini
This usually crowded event has been affected by the absence of pilgrims, as was the solemn entrance that took place on the morning of Jan. 5. For the second time in a month, the Custos of the Holy Land found himself walking through deserted streets. Local Christians had completely boycotted the “street” events commemorating the feast amid the Israel-Hamas war.
The Custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton walked through empty Bethlehem streets during the solemn entrance to the Basilica of the Nativity. Credit: Marinella Bandini
The Custos acknowledged the absence of pilgrims and said the time was ripe for their return.
“Seeing that the Magi, that is, the pilgrims in Bethlehem, are missing, I invite all those who wish to come on pilgrimage to make an effort and come anyway. The holy places are open for visits! People need the encounter with pilgrims! We pray, hope, and insist that pilgrims return, so that there may be peace!” he said in an interview with the Christian Media Center.
Peace is the word that has marked not only the past months but especially the day of the Epiphany, exactly 60 years after Paul VI’s visit to the Holy Land and the celebration in the Grotto of the Nativity. The Custos of the Holy Land, who presided over the solemn Mass in the morning, wore the same chasuble as Paul VI, and used the same chalice: a sign of continuity with the message of that pope and his appeal for peace, addressed to heads of state and political and religious leaders.
“We feel the urgent duty to renew … our urgent appeal for world peace. May those in power hear this cry from our hearts and continue generously their efforts to ensure humanity the peace it so ardently aspires to; so that the world can at all costs avoid the anguish and torments of a new world war, the consequences of which would be incalculable,” Father Patton said.
Bishop-elect William Koenig of Wilmington. / Courtesy photo.
Vatican City, Apr 30, 2021 / 06:15 am (CNA).
Pope Francis appointed Friday a new bishop of Wilmington, the home diocese of President Joe Biden.The pope selected Msgr. William Koenig to… […]
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