The Pope has asked Catholics to pray for those persecuted because of their religion, migrants, and the victims of the Coronavirus pandemic.
In his latest Angelus address in the Vatican, Rome, Pope Francis told the crowd in St Peter’s square that the faithful must “sustain with our prayer and solidarity those...who are persecuted because of their faith”. The Pope drew particular attention to ongoing persecution in Mozambique, where Islamist groups have attacked several towns in recent weeks, at least one of which remains occupied by the militants.
Turning to the topic of migration, the Holy Father reminded his audience that 24 August was the 10th anniversary of “the massacre of 72 migrants in San Fernando, Mexico”. That mass murder involved the kidnapping and execution of 58 men and 14 women by a Mexican drug cartel. Expressing his solidarity with the families and friends of the victims, who continue to ask for “truth and justice”, the Pope added that mistreated migrants are “victims of the throwaway culture”. Tthe Pope said: “The Lord will hold us to account for all of the migrants who have fallen on their journey of hope.”
Francis also urged listeners “not to forget the victims of the coronavirus”. Greeting a group of families who had come to the Vatican on a pilgrimage in memory of those who had died of the coronavirus. The families were from the Italian region of Bergamo, one of the areas worst affected by the coronavirus. Greeting them, the Holy Father asked the crowd “to remember the families who have suffered” due to the epidemic.
Ahead of his recitation of the Angelus, the Pope also reflected on that Sunday’s Gospel, Matthew 16:13-20, in which Peter professes his faith in Jesus as the Christ and the Son of God. The question that Jesus asked of the apostles - “And you, who do you say I am?” - is, the Pope said, one addressed to every believer today. “It is a question of giving not a theoretical answer,” he said, “but one that involves faith, that is, life, because faith is life!”
Our answer, as individuals and as a Church, is “a matter of understanding who Christ is for us: if He is the center of our life and the goal of our commitment in the Church and in society”. We express this through charity and pastoral care, the Pope said, but those good works should not “divert us from contact with the Lord Jesus.”
“Christian charity is not simple philanthropy,” said Pope Francis. “On the one hand, it is looking at others through the eyes of Jesus Himself and, on the other, seeing Jesus in the face of the poor.”
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