Pope Francis left the Vatican to pay tribute to the statue of the Immaculate Conception at Piazza Spagna in the center of Rome.
Crowds of people gathered around the square waiting for the pope. First he greeted Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, the vicar in Rome, and then the Mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi.
The people of Rome enthusiastically welcomed the pope as he passed through the streets. During his prayer to Holy Mary, he asked for her intercession to protect all families across the world.
POPE FRANCIS
“You know, Mother, what it means to bear life and feel indifference, rejection and sometimes contempt around you. For this reason I ask you to be close to the families here today in Rome, in Italy and throughout the world, who are living in similar situations, so that they are not left to their own devices.”
The pope also prayed for leaders and the priests of Rome, for the seminarians coming from all over the world to study in the Eternal City and for the religious.
Afterwards, as always, he greeted one by one the sick who were waiting for him in the first row of the square.
