On the feast day dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, which is also a public holiday in Italy, Pope Francis announced that
next year, the first World Church Day of Children will be held in Rome on May 25 and 26.
Sitting in a wheelchair, the Pope prayed in front of the icon of Mary in one of the chapels of the basilica, in front of which he also placed a golden rose. The Mary icon is considered by believers to be the protector of the city of Rome: for the first time II. Pope Gyula placed a golden rose at the icon in 1551, and since then several heads of churches have followed the tradition. According to the Vatican, Pope Francis wanted to emphasize the close ties between the Catholic Church and the city of Rome by reviving the tradition.
The Pope also blessed the children in wheelchairs who were waiting for him in the basilica.
Pope Francis’ next stop was the statue of the Virgin Mary in the square next to the Spanish Steps, where he read his speech sitting on a chair.
He addressed his words to women, especially mothers who mourn their children killed in war and terrorism, mothers who see their children embark on the path of desperate hope, or try to wean them away from addictions, or watch over their children when they are long and severe. are suffering from an illness”.
Pope Francis explained,
we need the Virgin Mary, who reminds us that evil cannot be the first and the last word, “our destiny is not about death, but about life, not about hatred, but about brotherhood, not about conflict, but about harmony, not about about war, but about peace”.
He asked for Mary’s protection and mercy for the peoples oppressed by poverty and war, highlighting the Ukrainian, Palestinian and Israeli peoples who have “fallen back into the vortex of violence”.
