‘May the Virgin Mary give her
\nmother blessing to all Romanian citizens, who during history have put their trust
\nin her intercession. I entrust you all to Virgin Mary and pray that she may
\nguide you on the path of faith’ Pope Francis wrote in a touching message posted
\non Twitter on Sunday night in the plane that was carrying him back to the
\nVatican after the visit he had paid to Romania. <\/p>\n
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Under the suggestive motto, ‘Let us
\nwalk together!’, the Pontiff paid a three-day pastoral and ecumenical visit to
\nRomania, which was welcomed by the Romanians with warmth and eagerness. Many
\nRomanians took to the streets to see Pope Francis, one of the most beloved
\nPontiffs, whose popularity resides in his humanity, modesty and austerity. <\/p>\n
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The first day, which he spent in
\nBucharest, was marked by moments of symbolical and historical nature. Pope
\nFrancis was received by President Klaus Iohannis and held talks with the
\ncountry’s Prime Minister Viorica Dancila. He visited the Patriarchy Palace,
\nwhere he had a private meeting with Daniel, the Patriarch of the Romanian
\nOrthodox Church; he delivered a speech at the National Cathedral and said the
\nLord’s Prayer in Latin. <\/p>\n
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Pope Francis also held a mass at
\nSt. Joseph’s Cathedral and hailed the tens of thousands who came to see him. On
\nthe second day of his visit, Pope Francis held a Pontifical Liturgy at the
\nMarian Shrine in Sumuleu Ciuc, eastern Transylvania, an area mainly inhabited
\nby ethnic Hungarians, which sees the largest annual Catholic pilgrimage in
\nCentral and Eastern Europe. <\/p>\n
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Pope Francis: This annual
\npilgrimage belongs to the Transylvanian heritage, but brings honour to both the
\nRomanian and Hungarian traditions. Christians of other denominations are
\nparticipating in it as this is the symbol of dialogue, unity and fraternity.<\/p>\n
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After Sumuleu Ciuc, His Holiness
\nleft for Iasi, in north-eastern Romania, a city that boasts a large community
\nof Catholic believers. ‘Romania is the Garden of the Virgin Mary and during
\nthis visit I realized this because she is a Mother who cultivates the dreams of
\nher sons and daughters, who guards their expectations and brings joy to their
\nhomes’, the Pontiff also said. <\/p>\n
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Pope Francis also paid a visit to
\nthe Holy Virgin Mary Queen Cathedral and blessed 800 children, old and sick
\npeople and prayed together with those present for young people and families.
\nRoughly 150 thousand pilgrims attended the ceremonies but the most important
\nmoment of the Pope’s visit was the beatification of the seven Eastern Catholic
\nbishops martyred by the Communist regime.<\/p>\n
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Pope Francis: We have in
\nmind the seven Greek Catholic bishops, whom we’ve had the joy of proclaiming
\nHappy now. They proved their faith and exemplary love for their people during
\nthe fierce persecution of the regime. With great courage and inner strength
\nthey endured tough detention conditions and other cruel abuses and refused to give
\nup their faith and belonging to their beloved church. These martyr priests have
\nregained and left a precious heritage to the Romanian people, which we can sum
\nup in two words: freedom and mercy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
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In Blaj, central Romania, Pope
\nFrancis met representatives of the Roma community, whom he asked for
\nforgiveness for being discriminated against along the centuries. Pope Francis’
\nvisit comes 20 years after the one paid by Pope John Paul ll, the first to a
\ncountry with an Orthodox majority.<\/p>\n
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‘I go back richer, taking with me
\nplaces and moments, but mainly faces. Your faces will bring colour to my
\nmemories and will be present in my prayers. I thank you and carry you along!,
\nthe Pontiff went on to say at the end of his visit to Romania. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(translated by bill)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pope Francis has ended his three-day visit to Romania, held under a significant motto, \u2018Let us walk together!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":82039,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[33515,34607,32936,31972,37642],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-82038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-blaj","tag-francis","tag-mary","tag-pope","tag-virgin"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n