St. Peter's Square was livelier than usual as young people from Italy's Catholic Action movement sang on-stage while pilgrims waited for the pope to begin the Angelus on the first Sunday of the Word of God.
During the Angelus, Pope Francis reflected on the beginning of Jesus' public mission.
POPE FRANCIS
With the coming of Jesus, Light of the World, God the Father showed humanity his closeness and friendship. These were given gratuitously, regardless of our merits. Our adherence to the Lord cannot be reduced to personal effort, no. To think this would be a sin of pride.
He also asked those present to remember the tragedy of the Holocaust on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.
POPE FRANCIS
In front of this appalling tragedy, this atrocity, indifference is inadmissible. Memory is required. Tomorrow we are all invited to spend a moment in prayer and recollection, each one saying in one's own heart, 'Never again. Never again!'
Pope Francis prayed also for victims of the coronavirus outbreak in China and around the world.
POPE FRANCIS
I would like to be close to and pray for the people affected by the virus which has spread through China. May the Lord welcome the deceased into his peace. May he comfort their families and sustain the great work of the Chinese community, already acting to combat the epidemic.
Then the pope extended a special greeting to members of the Catholic Action movement. A young representative spoke on behalf of the entire group. Following the brief discourse, balloons were released into the sky.
Claudia Torres
