Pope Francis made a surprise visit to the site of a devastating earthquake in central Italy last week and prayed silently and alone amid the rubble.
The Pope later told the people of Amatrice, the hardest hit town, that he had wanted to visit sooner, but felt that visiting on August 24 earthquake would have complicated relief efforts and “would have been more of a hindrance than a help”.
With a megaphone he told the crowd: “From the first moment, I felt that I needed to come to you. Simply to express my closeness to you, nothing more. And I pray; I pray for you!”
The epicentre of the earthquake was close to Norcia, the birthplace of St Benedict, and had a magnitude of 6.2. Amatrice accounted for 234 of the estimated 290 deaths.
Shortly after news of the quake, the Pope led 11,000 pilgrims in St Peter’s Square in praying the rosary for the victims. He also sent six Vatican firefighters and six Vatican police officers to Amatrice to help search for victims trapped under the rubble.
The Pope, accompanied by Bishop Domenico Pompili of Rieti, visited a newly built primary school in Amatrice and greeted pupils individually before making his way to the “red zone”, an area cordoned off due to safety concerns. He then visited a care home for the elderly.
The Pope told the crowd: “Closeness and prayer: this is my offer to you. May the Lord bless you all and Our Lady protect you in this moment of sadness, pain and trial.”
After giving them a blessing, Francis led people in praying a Hail Mary for the dead.
Catholic group urges Trump to withdraw from election
A Catholic lobby group has called for Donald Trump to withdraw from the presidential election following the release of a video recorded in 2005 in which the Republican candidate made disparaging comments about women.
CatholicVote.org said that Mr Trump’s comments – in which he bragged about groping and attempting to seduce married women – were “disgusting”
and “simply indefensible”.
Its statement said: “Catholic voters rightly will be unnerved by these developments. In our opinion, the viability of Donald Trump’s candidacy is now in question … If Donald Trump is unwilling to step aside, the Republican National Committee must act soon out of basic decency and self-preservation.”
The recording, leaked on Friday, came during the week that Trump made an appeal to Catholic leaders.
In a message to a Catholic conference in Denver he emphasised his commitment to pro-life causes and religious liberty. “I will fight for you,” he wrote.
Jeb Bush, who ran against Mr Trump to become Republican nominee, said “no apology can excuse away Donald Trump’s reprehensible comments”.
Bishops praise new UN chief
The Portuguese bishops’ conference has praised António Guterres, the country’s former prime minister, for his “deep sense of humanity and faith” after he was nominated United Nations secretary-general.
“We hope he can face with courage, dialogue and resolutions all the great challenges on the world agenda today,” they wrote. Guterres will succeed the outgoing UN chief Ban Ki-moon early next year.
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