The Constitution Square, in the City of Buenos Aires (Argentina), was the stage chosen by the Buenos Aires Church to celebrate a mass for the health of Pope Francis. During the ceremony, the archbishop of Buenos Aires requested that the prayer of the people “be that breath of pure air” that helps him recover.
“His pontificate is a pocket of pure and oxygen air for a world suffocated by violence, selfishness and exclusion. That is why he now, that oxygen lacks a bit, needs us. May our prayer be that pureh of pure air that reaches your lungs to recover your health, “said Mons. Jorge García Cuerva, archbishop of Buenos Aires.
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Since the Pontiff “of the end of the world” was admitted on February 14 to the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic of Rome, his Argentine native country mobilized to pray and send samples of affection.
In that context, the afternoon of Monday, February 24, while in Rome the faithful filled the Plaza de San Pedro to join in the prayer of the Pope for the Pope, Mons. García presided over a mass in the Constitution Square, a place where, in His time as Archbishop, Cardinal Bergoglio used to approach the poorest and most excluded.
More than a dozen bishops and several priests concelebrated the Eucharist, accompanied by hundreds of faithful, many of them from the popular neighborhoods, who approached the emblematic square to accompany with their prayer.
“We celebrate this Mass for the health of Pope Francis in this place where more than once, when he was Cardinal Bergoglio, he said that many become deaf and do not want to hear the clamor and cry of the victims of injustice And of exclusion, a place where many seem mute, because they choose not to talk about what happens, not to mention so many concrete faces that express so much marginalization, “denounced the prelate At the beginning of his homily.
“That is why we are in this square, because Cardinal Bergoglio raised his prophetic voice denouncing so much injustice, crying out for the poorest for justice and better living conditions,” he insisted.
“Once, in this place, he said that our society is full of beaten men and women, beaten on the edge of the road, that some organizations linked to trafficking and drug trafficking make it a slave factory, a true ‘meat chopper ‘”, Recalled. Then, he stressed that these words, so forceful, reflect how much this place and their harsh reality have marked and continue to mark the heart of the Pope.
“Perhaps thinking about these concrete faces with which Bergoglio crossed in this square and through the streets of Buenos Aires, is that from the beginning of his pontificate he insisted and taught us that we are a campaign hospital church, a church that receives The wounded of life, a church in which so much pain is embraced, ”he said.
Mons. García Cuerva highlighted the teachings of Pope Francis over the years: “He taught us to be streets of faith, witnesses of Jesus risen in everyday life; A church for ‘all’ “, even for those who” throw disqualifications, lies, slander from which the Holy Father has been a victim during all these years. “
The Prelate also recalled a constant message from the Pontiff: “As Pope, he always insisted, one and a thousand times, with the universal fraternity, and how nice that today we get together to pray for him, we can start living what taught us so much: That we are brothers and we have to learn to build a homeland of brothers, “he said.
In a critical tone, he lamented the attitude of some sectors towards the Holy Father: “We have not let it be Francisco, we have always put it in the mud of our sterile discussions, we have put it in our cracks asking us if it smiled or not To the president on duty. “And he added:” We wanted And he has us in his heart.
Finally, he highlighted the importance of prayer for his health and recognized the attacks he has received throughout his pontificate: “Today we meet to pray for his health; His fragility wants to be our strength. Today, praying for him, we apologize to God for the times we have disqualified him, accused, stained in his honor, and he always responded to us from the Gospel with absolute mercy. “
Julieta Villar
I am a journalist, a graduate in Communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non -governmental organizations. Since 2016 I dedicate myself to Catholic journalism, first in the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as a correspondent for ACI Press for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.