After the Sunday Angelus, Pope Francis prayed for the victims of severe flooding in the Mexican state of Hidalgo, which killed 17 people after knocking out a hospital's power supply.
POPE FRANCIS
I am close to the victims of the floods that took place in the state of Hidalgo in Mexico, especially to the sick who died in the hospital of Tula and their families.
The Pope also prayed for foreigners detained in other countries, such as the nearly 43,000 currently being held in northeast Syria without a trial.
POPE FRANCIS
I want to assure my prayers for those who have been unjustly detained in foreign countries: unfortunately, there are several cases, for different and sometimes complex reasons. I hope that, in the due fulfillment of justice, these people might return to their homeland as soon as possible.
He then remembered the pilgrims gathered at the shrine of Notre-Dame de La Salette to mark the 175 anniversary of the Marian apparition in La Salette, France, where a crying Virgin Mary appeared before two children.
POPE FRANCIS
Mary’s tears make us think of Jesus’ tears over Jerusalem and of his anguish in Gethsemane: they are a reflection of Christ’s suffering for our sins and an appeal that is always contemporary, to entrust ourselves to God’s mercy.
Pope Francis appeared in good spirits and full of energy as he greeted the faithful, even after returning from his four day trip through Hungary and Slovakia.
JM
