In the last Angelus, Pope Francis remembered the homeless who died because of the cold wave that has been sweeping through Europe. In Italy alone, eight people have died due to the extreme temperatures and lack of resources.
POPE FRANCIS
'In these very cold days I think and I invite you to think of all the people who live in the street, exposed to the cold and enduring indifference of passersby. Unfortunately, now, some have even died. Let us pray for them and ask the Lord to warm our hearts to be able to help them.'
Minutes earlier, the pope had recalled why Christ and his disciples generated so much attraction among the people. They never imposed the Gospel on others, but on the contrary: they announced it in a different style.
POPE FRANCIS
'Without shouting, without yelling at anyone, but with a softness and firmness, without arrogance or imposition. The true mission is never proselytism, but attraction to Christ. But how? How does this attraction come to Christ? Through your own testimony.'
The pope also remembered the children he baptized that morning in the Sistine Chapel and he extended an affectionate greeting to a group of young people preparing for Confirmation. He said, this does not have to become 'the sacrament of farewell,' but the beginning of a Christian life that is taken seriously.
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