In preparation for his three day visit to Romania Pope Francis has sent a video message to the people living in this country. His Holiness says that he is coming as a pilgrim and a brother to “walk together.”
Below you can read the Holy Father’s video message transcript.
“Only a few days are left before the journey that will bring me to you. This thought gives me joy, and I wish to send my most cordial greetings to all of you. I come to Romania, a beautiful and welcoming country, as a pilgrim and a brother, and I thank the President and other Authorities for inviting me and for their full cooperation. I look forward to the joy of meeting the Patriarch and the Permanent Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, as well as the Catholic Pastors and faithful.
The bonds of faith which unite us date back to the Apostles, in particular to the bond which united Peter and Andrew, who, according to tradition, brought faith to your lands. Blood brothers, they also shed blood for the Lord. And among you there have been many martyrs, even in recent times, such as the seven Greek-Catholic Bishops whom I will have the joy of proclaiming Blessed. What they have suffered for, to the point of offering their life, is too precious a legacy to be forgotten. It is a common legacy, that calls us not to distance ourselves from our brother who shares it.
I come among you to walk together. We walk together when we learn to keep our roots and our family, when we take care of the future of our children and of our brother who is close to us when we go beyond fears and suspicions, when we let the barriers that separates us from others fall.
I know that many of you are eagerly preparing for my visit, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. To all of you I assure my closeness in prayer and I send you my Blessing. And I ask you, please, pray for me. Goodbye!”
As we previously reported, preparation is ongoing for the papal visit. During the Apostolic Journey he will undertake between May 31 and June 2, Pope Francis will visit three cities and a pilgrimage site in the heart of Transylvania, the Csíksomlyó saddle, where the Holy Father and hundreds of thousands of pilgrims are expected for this occasion. Other surprise visits are expected to be included in the three-day journey, but there is no official information about them.
