Mexico City, Mexico, Feb 13, 2016 / 07:41 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Upon arriving in Mexico the evening of Feb. 12, Pope Francis traveled to the Apostolic Nunciature, where he spent the night– but not without a surprise.
Shortly after arriving, the Pope came out to greet the crowds, speaking in a short, unscheduled address about the Blessed Mother.
With hundreds of people gathered, the Holy Father spent about 10 minutes addressing the crowd. He prayed with them and blessed them.
Francis asked those present to pray “for the people that I love and also for those that I do not love and for those that are angry, jealous or envious.”
The Pope also asked for prayers to the Mother of God for those that “have harmed us” so that the “Lord may give us the strength” to forgive them.
The Holy Father then gave his blessing and reminded those gathered that “tomorrow is Saturday, it is a day that’s kind of free and then the day after is Sunday which is a day of rest and we have a lot of activities. We have to all be rested.”
“Tomorrow we will get together again, but do not forget, while on the way home and before going to sleep, remember what I told you: the people that we love, those that we do not, and those that have harmed us so that the Virgen may bless them.
“Good night, rest well, and may God Bless you,” Francis concluded.
Pope Francis' Feb. 12-17 trip to Mexico is his first as pontiff. He is the third Pope to visit the nation: St. John Paul II visited Mexico five times over the course of his 27 year pontificate, and Benedict XVI in 2012.
Article Archive
The unscripted message of Pope Francis in Mexico
Related Articles • More Articles
The Oregon State Capitol in Salem. / Credit: Zack Frank/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 28, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is reporting a significant rise in assisted suicide prescriptions and deaths in the state, a move that comes after authorities in 2022 began allowing out-of-state residents to access the lethal services.Since the state's passage of the "Death with Dignity Act" in 1997, assisted suicide numbers have been generally rising there, with a markedly sharp uptick since 2013. OHA on March 20 released its 2023 assisted suicide data summary that reported a considerable increase in suicide prescriptions in 2023. The study found that assisted suicide prescriptions in the state rose from 433 in 2022 to 560 last year.Of those 560 prescriptions, 367 people are known to have died from ingesting the suicide "medications." This is up from the 304 who died from assisted suicide drugs in Oregon in 2022.Over half, or 56%, of the assisted ...
The state capitol building of New Hampshire in Concord, New Hampshire. / Credit: Michael M. Santiago/Getty ImagesCNA Newsroom, Mar 28, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).The New Hampshire House of Representatives is poised to reconsider its narrow passage of a bill that would legalize assisted suicide in the "Live Free or Die" state.Last week, New Hampshire state representatives passed HB 1273 by a margin of just three votes, 179-176. Twenty-four representatives abstained during the vote. However, the bill has not been advanced to the New Hampshire Senate, as one member of the slim majority, Rep. Mike Ouellet, filed a motion to reconsider. The Republican politician had initially voted in favor of the proposed law. However, the following day, Ouellet revealed that he wanted to change his vote due to his faith."I've been a practicing Catholic my whole life," the lawmaker told the New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism. The Republican politician felt "torn because the bill w...
Adoration. / Thoom / Shutterstock.CNA Staff, Mar 28, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).Did you know that it is possible to sing a special song of adoration on Holy Thursday and have your soul purified?It's true, and the song is "Tantum Ergo."First, some background...A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits of Jesus Christ to remove all temporal punishment due to sin.What does this mean?"An indulgence does not confer grace. An indulgence is not a remission of the guilt due to sin. The guilt due to sin is ordinarily taken away by the sacraments of baptism and penance (confession), in which we receive forgiveness for sins through Jesus Christ," the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) explains in this helpful Q&A."Although guilt is taken away, and with it the eternal penalty that is due to sin, namely, damnation, the eternal loss of the presence of God, there remain consequences for sins that those who have committed them ...