Pope Francis on May 28, 2019, sent a video message to the people of Rumania, in advance of the Apostolic Journey he will undertake from May 31 to June 2, 2019, on the invitation of the country’s highest authorities.
The Holy Father’s Video-Message
Dear Brothers and Sisters of Rumania!
Few days are now left before the journey that will bring me in your midst. This thought gives me joy and I wish, as of now, to give all of you my most cordial greeting.
I am coming to Rumania, a beautiful and welcoming country, as a pilgrim and brother, and I thank the President and the other Authorities of the Nation for having invited me and for the full collaboration. I already enjoy the joy of meeting the Patriarch and the Permanent Synod of the Rumanian Orthodox Church, as well as the Pastors and the Catholic faithful.
The bonds of faith that unite us go back to the Apostles, in particular to the bond that united Peter and Andrew, who, according to Tradition, brought the faith to your lands. Blood brothers, they were so also in shedding their blood for the Lord. And there have been so many martyrs among you, also in recent times, such as the seven Greek-Catholic Bishops that I will have the joy to proclaim Blesseds. That for which they suffered, to the offering of their life, is too precious an inheritance to be forgotten. And it is a common inheritance, which calls us not to distance ourselves from a brother that shares it.
I come among you to walk together. We walk together when we learn to protect the roots and the family when we take care of the future of the children and the brother that is next to us when we go beyond fears and suspicions when we let the barriers fall that separates us from others.
I know that many are preparing intensely for my visit, and I thank you from my heart. I assure you all of my closeness in prayer and send you my Blessing. And I ask you, please, to pray for me. See you soon!
[Original text: Italian] [ZENIT’s translation by Virginia M. Forrester]
© Libreria Editrice Vatican
