Pope Francis leads prayer for Philippines after typhoon VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday led prayers for those affected by the typhoon that may have killed 10,000 people in the Philippines. I wish to express my closeness to the people of the Philippines and of that region. Unfortunately there are many victims and the damage is enormous. We pray now in silence ... for our brothers and sisters, and we will seek to also send concrete help, Francis told thousands of pilgrims after his weekly Angelus from his window over St. Peters Square. A message from the leader of the 1.2-billion-member Catholic Church asking Twitter users to join him in prayer for the victims of typhoon Haiyan was re-tweeted almost 30,000 times. One of the most powerful storms ever recorded swept away villages and devastated the city of Tacloban, displacing half a million people in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines, the largest Christian community in Asia. In a message to Philippine President Benigno Aquino, the Vaticans Secretary of State Archbishop Pietro Parolin passed on heart-felt solidarity from Francis. The Holy Father likewise offers encouragement to the civil authorities and emergency personnel as they assist the victims of the storm. He invokes divine blessings of strength and consolation for the nation, the message read.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 10:42:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015