Pope Leads Faithful in Prayer For Victims of Sunken Migrant Boat

700 Feared Dead After Fishing Boat Capsizes Near Libyan Coast

Following his Regina Coeli address, Pope Francis lead thousands in praying the Hail Mary for those who died after a fishing boat carrying an estimated 700 migrants capsized off the Libyan coast.

Although Italian border police have rescued about 50 people, an estimated 700 people are feared dead in what may be the worst disaster in the Mediterranean. So far, rescue workers have recovered only 24 bodies.

“I express my deepest sorrow in the face of such a tragedy and I assure for those lost and their families my remembrance in prayer,” the Pope said.

Regina Coeli: On Being Witnesses to the Risen Christ

“The witness is one who has seen, who remembers and who recounts.”

Here is the translation of Pope Francis’ address before and after the recitation of the Regina Coeli to the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

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Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

In the biblical readings of today’s liturgy, the word “witness” resounds twice. The first time is on the lips of Peter: he, after the healing of the paralytic at the door of the temple of Jerusalem, exclaims: “The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses” (Acts 3:15). The second time is on the lips of Jesus Risen: He, on the evening of Passover opens the minds of the disciples to the mystery of His death and resurrection and says to them: “You are witnesses of these things” (Lk. 24:48). The Apostles, who saw with their own eyes the Risen Christ, could not keep silent about their extraordinary experience. He had revealed himself to them so that the truth of his resurrection could reach everyone through their witness. And the Church has the duty to prolong this mission, every baptized person is called to give witness, with their words and with their lives, that Jesus is risen, that He is alive and present among us. We all are called to give witness that Jesus is alive! We can ask ourselves: who is the witness? The witness is one who has seen, who remembers and who recounts. To see, to remember and to tell are the three verbs that describes the identity and mission.

The Holy Shroud: A chiaroscuro of faith and a symbol of the suffering of man in 2015

Those who will be attending the 2015 Ostension are well aware of the fact that the image they will have before them for just a few brief instants is the subject of much controversy and discussion. But this is not going to stop hundreds of thousands of people from considering the journey to Turin worthwhile

“Let us therefore allow ourselves to be reached by this look, which is directed not to our eyes but to our heart. In silence, let us listen to what he has to say to us from beyond death itself. By means of the Holy Shroud, the unique and supreme Word of God comes to us: Love made man, incarnate in our history; the merciful love of God who has taken upon himself all the evil of the world to free us from its power. These words, which Pope Francis pronounced on the occasion of the television exposition of the Shroud in 2013, are a key to understanding what is shortly going to be experienced in Turin in the coming weeks. As was the case during previous Ostensions, a constant flow of pilgrims will be filing past the linen sheet which depicts the figure of a tortured, whipped and crucified man, matching exactly the Gospels’ description of what happened to Jesus of Nazareth.

Papal visit to US: Francis is considering a stop in Cuba

The possibility of a visit to Havana at the end of the Pope’s trip to US cities – Philadelphia, Washington and New York – is being looked into

Seventeen years after John Paul II’s historic visit to the island in January 1998 and Benedict XVI’s in March 2012, which was just as important, another Pope may be about to step foot on Cuban soil – the first South American Pope in the history of the Catholic Church. The Vatican is looking into the possibility of prolonging the Pope’s visit to the US next September, by one or two days in order to allow him to make a quick stop-over in Havana. After a decades-long “cold war”, the Caribbean island of Cuba is re-establishing diplomatic ties with Washington, partly thanks to Vatican mediation.

The news was revealed by American sources and was re-printed by the Wall Street Journal. Today, the director of the Holy See press office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, stated: “The Holy Father has taken into consideration the idea of carrying out a leg to Cuba on the occasion of his upcoming visit to the United States. However, contact with the authorities of the country is too much at an early stage to speak of this stop as a decision taken and of a project in operation.”