Iranian miners look on at the scene of a blast at a coal mine in Tabas in Iran’s Khorasan province on Sept. 22, 2024. The blast caused by a gas leak at the coal mine in eastern Iran has killed at least 50 people, state media said Sept. 22, in one of Iran’s deadliest work accidents in years. / Credit: MOHSEN NOFERESTY/IRNA/AFP via Getty Images
Vatican City, Sep 25, 2024 / 09:50 am (CNA).
Pope Francis said Wednesday he is praying for the dozens of victims of a deadly coal mine explosion in Tabas, Iran, that happened last Saturday.
The Sept. 21 incident in the South Khorasan Province killed at least 51 people and injured another 20, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). The explosion was caused by a methane gas leak.
In a message of condolences signed by Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the pope expressed his sorrow for those affected and sent “the assurance of his prayers for those who died and for their grieving families.”
“Likewise expressing his spiritual solidarity with the wounded, His Holiness invokes upon all affected by this tragedy the Almighty’s blessings of strength, consolation, and peace,” the short telegram to victims concluded.
A similar coal mine explosion in Iran in 2017 killed 42 people and injured at least 75 others.
The mine in Tabas, located about 340 miles from Tehran, is owned and operated by Madanjoo Company. There were 69 workers inside the coal mine at the time of the explosion at 9 p.m. local time.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Pope Francis prays with journalists on a papal flight August 14, 2014. / Alan Holdren/CNA
CNA Newsroom, Jul 30, 2022 / 03:09 am (CNA).
Pope Francis has agreed with the view that the forced removal of Indigenous children from their families and … […]
Young people from around the world held hands in St. Peter’s Square during the #NotAlone human fraternity event June 10, 2023. / Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Jun 10, 2023 / 11:43 am (CNA).
Pope Francis said in a message Saturday that others should be treated with dignity and respect, not as objects to exploit or throw away.
The pope’s speech was read aloud at a live-streamed event on human fraternity, sponsored by the Fratelli Tutti Foundation, held in St. Peter’s Square June 10. Pope Francis was scheduled to attend before being hospitalized on Wednesday for an abdominal surgery.
“Even though I am unable to greet you in person, I would like to welcome and thank you wholeheartedly for coming,” Francis said in the message, read by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica and president of the Fratelli Tutti Foundation.
“In the encyclical Fratelli tutti,” the pope said, “I wrote: ‘Fraternity necessarily calls for something greater, which in turn enhances freedom and equality,’ since the one who sees the other as a brother or sister sees in him or her a face, not a number.”
“The other is always ‘someone’ who has dignity and merits respect, and not ‘something’ to be used, exploited or thrown away,” he added.
The June 10 event, called “#Not Alone,” was centered on the signing of a declaration on human fraternity drafted by a dozen Nobel Peace Prize winners together with representatives of former Nobel Prize-winning organizations.
“United with Pope Francis, we want to reaffirm that ‘authentic reconciliation does not flee from conflict, but is achieved in conflict, resolving it through dialogue and open, honest and patient negotiation’ (Fratelli Tutti, n. 244). All this within the context of the human rights framework,” the declaration says.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of state, signed the document in Pope Francis’ place June 10.
After the signing of the document, young people representing different countries formed “a symbolic embrace” by joining hands in a ring around St. Peter’s Square.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin signs a declaration on human fraternity on behalf of Pope Francis while Muhammad Yunus, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, and other Nobel laureates, look on, during the #NotAlone human fraternity event in St. Peter’s Square June 10, 2023. Vatican Media.
The six-hour event included speeches, testimonies, performances by Italian music artists — including Grammy-winner Andrea Bocelli — and circus performers.
Nobel laureates in attendance included Iraqi human rights advocate Nadia Murad, Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege, and Yemeni Arab Spring leader Tawakkol Karman.
The former presidents of Colombia, Costa Rica, Poland, and Democratic Republic of East Timor — all peace prize winners — also participated, as well as representatives of several U.N. organizations that have been past recipients.
“In our world torn apart by violence and war, tweaks and adjustments are not enough,” Pope Francis said in his message. “Only a great spiritual and social covenant born from the heart and centered on fraternity can restore the sacredness and inviolability of human dignity as the core of relationships.”
“This does not require theories on fraternity but concrete gestures and shared decisions that make it a culture of peace,” he continued. “The question to ask ourselves is not what society and the world can give me, but what can I give to my brothers and sisters.”
“When we return home, let us think of some concrete gesture of fraternity that we can make: reconciling with family members, friends and neighbors, praying for those who hurt us, recognizing and helping those in need, speaking words of peace at school, university or in society, ‘anointing’ with closeness those who feel alone,” he said.
Life is a precious gift.