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Gerard O’ConnellJanuary 27, 2019
  Pope Francis speaks as he visits Casa Hogar el Buen Samaritano (Good Samaritan Home) in Panama City Jan. 27, 2019. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) 

Pope Francis called for “a just and peaceful solution” to the grave political crisis in Venezuela, one that “respects human rights,” and he appealed to everyone “to work exclusively for the good of all the inhabitants of that land.”

During his visit to La Casa Hogar El Buen Samaritano where he lead the Angelus, he also prayed for the victims of the terrorist attack today in a cathedral in the Philippines and a recent terrorist attack on a police academy in Bogota, Colombia, as well as for those who died in tragic accidents in Brazil and Mexico this past week.

The pope spoke of Venezuela for the first time since the crisis there took a dramatic turn last Wednesday, the day he arrived in Panama, after the president of the National Assembly, Juan Guaido, in accordance with the constitution declared himself the country’s legitimate president “ad interim.”

He revealed that “in these days in Panama I have thought a lot about the Venezuelan people to whom I feel very united” and said, “in the face of the grave situation that is happening (in the country), I ask the Lord that they seek and work for a just and peaceful solution to overcome the crisis, respecting human rights and seeking exclusively the good of all the inhabitants of the country.”

He invited the people there and in Panama “to pray and place their intentions under the mantle of the protection of Our Lady of Coromoto, the patroness of Venezuela.”

Next, Pope Francis turned his attention to this morning’s terrorist attack on the cathedral of Jolo, in the southern Philippine island of the same name, which killed more than 17 people at prayer and injured more than 100. Francis expressed his “strongest repudiation” or condemnation “of this violent act” that brought “suffering to this Christian community.” He prayed for the dead and the injured and called on the Lord “to convert the hearts of the violent ones” and “to give the people of that region peaceful coexistence.”

He invited the people of Venezuela and in Panama “to pray and place their intentions under the mantle of the protection of Our Lady of Coromoto, the patroness of Venezuela.”

He went on to recall the earlier terrorist attack at a police academy in Colombia, that happened on Jan. 17 before he came to Panama, and left 21 dead and around 70 injured.. He revealed that he had prayed for them at mass, and he invited everyone present to remember them in the traditional way they do at funeral services by responding “present” as he read the names, one by one, of the young cadets who had died. He then went on to pray for a lasting peace in Colombia, a country where he went in 2017 to help support the fragile peace process.

After recalling these two terrorist attacks, Francis also recalled two tragic events of the past week– a mud slide in the State of Minas Gerais in Brazil, that left many dead, and another tragic accident in Mexico, a pipeline explosion on that caused 114 deaths that also caused many deaths. He prayed for the victims of both tragedies.

The pope also recalled that today is International Holocaust Memorial Day. Commenting on this he said, “we need to keep alive the memory of the past and to learn from these dark pages of history so as not to ever again return to commit those same errors.” He went on, “Let us continue trying, without ever tiring, to cultivate justice, increase harmony and sustain integration, so as to be instruments of peace and builders of a better world.”

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JR Cosgrove
5 years 2 months ago

What has caused all this?

Two of them have a Cuban connection. The richest country in South America has become its poorest after aligning with Cuba. A terrorist group headquartered in Cuba blew up the police station in Colombia.

petter son
5 years 2 months ago

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Sha'Pearl Jones
5 years 2 months ago

I wish this Pope would show the strength and courage of St. John Paul II in speaking out against political tyranny. In fact, Francis does the opposite. His own bishops in Venezuela condemned the "election" of Maduro as illegitimate and yet Francis sends a representative to the inauguration of the socialist dictator. For months I have been amused when those on the far right label Francis as a socialist or even a communist. I'm rethinking that now. To put it mildly, he's very weak.

JR Cosgrove
5 years 2 months ago

For a strong response see Pompeo's remarks yesterday.http://bit.ly/2DFKvZn
Of course Trump is a Putin stooge but yet is the toughest president on Russia since Reagan. Putin must want to bring down Russia by having his agent run the United States.
The Pope wants a world government run by elites and organized by some form of socialism. This is why he constantly condemns nationalism and the evils of capitalism.

JR Cosgrove
5 years 2 months ago

An earlier comment - Readers should understand that there is a move to a world government. It used to be hidden but not so much anymore. It goes under different names, such as globalism, transnational progressivism, post-sovereigntist, Weltinnenpolitik or global domestic politics. It has other names but it breaks down to who should govern. The people/organizations favoring this transnationalist approach want a group of elites to do the governing. They would answer to no one once power is entrenched. This philosophy is also consistent with everything America, the magazine, publishes.

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