Pope Francis typically prays the Angelus publicly every Sunday. But on certain feast days, he also joins pilgrims in this prayer from the Apostolic Palace. One of these days is August 15, the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
In the summer Roman heat, the Pope prayed for Greece, where a fire destroyed about 10,000 acres of land northeast of Athens.
POPE FRANCIS
Tens of thousands of people have already been evacuated, many families have been left homeless, thousands of people are facing terrible hardships and, in addition to the immense material damage, an environmental catastrophe is unfolding. I pray for the victims and the injured. I assure all those who are affected by this grave event of my support, trusting that they will be sustained by our common solidarity.
And, as he has for the past 10 months, Pope Francis once again called for an end to the war in Gaza.
POPE FRANCIS
I continue to follow with concern the very serious humanitarian situation in Gaza and call yet again for a ceasefire on all fronts, for the release of hostages and for aid to the exhausted population. I encourage everyone to make every effort to ensure that the conflict does not escalate and to pursue avenues of negotiation so that this tragedy will soon end.
The Pope also remembered other countries in need of peace, including Ukraine, Sudan and Burma.
CA
TR: KG
