Pope:Prayers for Indonesia. We must carry the cross of the pandemic

Ahead of the Angelus prayer, at the conclusion of the Palm Mass, Pope Francis asks for a prayer for the victims of violence and recalls that in the second year of the pandemic "the economic crisis has grown heavy". Like Jesus and Mary, we too can walk a "daily way of the cross", by looking at "the faces of many brothers and sisters in difficulty".


Vatican City (AsiaNews) - A prayer for Indonesia, where an attack took place this morning in front of the cathedral of Makassar (South Sulawesi) and an exhortation to carry the cross of the pandemic, which includes "physical, psychological and above all spiritual evil, because the Evil One takes advantage of crises to sow mistrust, despair and discord”.

These were the two points that Pope Francis wanted to underline before the Angelus prayer, recited before the conclusion of the Mass for Palm Sunday.

The pontiff noted that "For the second time we are living [Holy Week] in the context of the pandemic", in which "the economic crisis has become severe". As a model of Jesus, who "takes up the cross, that is, takes charge of the evil that this reality entails", and of Mary, who "walked the path of passion keeping the lamp of faith burning in her heart", we too "walk this path. And, along the daily way of the Cross, we meet the faces of many brothers and sisters in difficulty: let us not go further, let the heart move with compassion and let us get closer. At the moment, like the Cyrene, we may think: 'Why me?'. But then we will discover the gift that, without our merit, has touched us”.

And before the apostolic blessing, he said: “Let us pray for all the victims of violence, especially those of the attack that took place this morning in Indonesia, in front of the Makassar Cathedral. May Our Lady, who always precedes us on the path of faith, help us”.