Pope Francis celebrated Mass in front of thousands of people and called for prayers for Ukraine on the second day of his Malta trip, transmits MIA.
“Let us pray for peace and remember the humanitarian tragedy of martyred Ukraine,” the head of the Catholic Church said on Sunday in Floriana – a suburb of the capital Valletta – at the end of the Mass celebration. The country is still under bombardment from this “sacrilegious war,” he said.
In his homily the leader of the Catholic Church spoke of the “worm of hypocrisy” that could creep in. People pretend to be good and decent and are only concerned about the faults of others rather than their own, he explained.
According to Vatican sources, about 20,000 people attended the service, but local authorities in the predominantly Catholic country estimated the number of participants to be lower.
The Holy Father drove past the cheering crowds in a seated position in the Popemobile on Sunday morning.
The day before, the 85-year-old was still standing in the famous papal vehicle. The Argentinian has been suffering from knee problems for some time, which make it visibly difficult for him to walk, especially when climbing stairs.
Pope Francis visited the symbolic Saint Paul’s Grotto in Rabat on Sunday on his two-day trip to Malta. He prayed that the needs of migrants crossing the Mediterranean be heard.
The Maltese pilgrimage site is significant because, according to tradition, Saint Paul lived there temporarily after a shipwreck and received a hospitable welcome.
The story of Malta’s patron saint is a theme of Francis’ trip because of the many migrants who cross the Mediterranean in the hope of a better life in Europe. The head of the Catholic Church was following his predecessors Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II in visiting the grotto.
The political highlight on the agenda is expected in the afternoon, when the Holy Father plans to meet around 200 migrants at a charitable institution. The “John XXIII Peace Lab,” named after the 1958-63 pope who was considered close to the people, accommodates around 50 people.
In Malta, the issue of migration is very controversial. Boat migrants repeatedly make their way from North Africa to the smallest EU country.
The authorities of the southern European country with about 500,000 inhabitants have not allowed ships of civilian sea rescuers to enter their ports for quite some time.
The organizations are hoping for clear criticism from the pope on the situation of the migrants.
The 85-year-old Argentinian pontiff has described the Mediterranean as “Europe’s biggest graveyard” more than once because boat migrants repeatedly lose their lives on the dangerous crossing. In the evening, Francis plans to fly back to Rome.
