Pope Francis gave an Angelus address this morning, after having celebrated Mass in Carpi’s Piazza of the Martyrs. The Pope is making a one-day visit to the northern Italian town, near Bologna. Here is a Zenit working translation of his address:
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Words of the Holy Father Before the Angelus
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I want to thank you for being here at this Mass. I want to thank all those who worked for this double «marathon»: last Sunday [for the inauguration of the restored Cathedral] and this. Thank you very much! And I want to thank you, the sick. There are 4,500 sick here! Thank you, that with your help the suffering Church, helped to carry the cross of Christ. Thank you! Many thanks to you!
And at the end of this celebration, our thoughts turn to the Blessed Virgin, whom you venerate in your cathedral dedicated to her. To Mary, we offer our joys, our sorrows and our hopes. We ask for her mercy for those of us who are suffering, especially the sick, the poor and those without decent work.
Recalling the apostolic zeal of two lay figures of your land, Blessed Odoardo Focherini and Venerable Marianna Saltini, charity witnesses of Christ, I greet with gratitude to you, the lay faithful. I encourage you to be protagonists in the life of your community, in communion with your priests: always bet on what is essential in proclaiming and witnessing the Gospel.
I thank you, dear Bishop Francesco, and all of you, the Bishops of the Emilia Romagna Region, for your presence, and above all the shepherd of this diocese, Msgr. Francesco Cavina: I urge you to be close to your priests with listening, tenderness and caring closeness.
I would finally like to thank each and every one of you, dear faithful, priests, men and women religious, the Authorities and especially those who helped to organize this visit, with a special thought for the AGESCI and the choir, made up by all the choirs of the diocese, which has animated this liturgy.
We entrust our lives and the fate of the Church and of the world to Mary, reciting the Angelus prayer together.
Angelus …
[00475-IT.02] [Original text: Italian]
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At the end, the Holy Father went to the Seminary of Carpi, where, at 1 p.m., he had lunch with the bishops of the region and the elderly priests who also live in the House of Clergy and Seminarians.
