Pope Francis delivers a speech to the crowd at Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican on June 30. (Photo: AFP)
Pope Francis has urged the faithful to pray to the Sacred Heart of Jesus to “touch the hearts of those who desire war that they may be converted to plans of dialogue and peace.”
Francis urged the pilgrims and tourists gathered in Saint Peter’s Square, Rome, on June 30 to remember all those suffering because of their faith, Vatican News reported.
“Many of our brothers and sisters in various parts of the world suffer discrimination and persecution because of their faith; they thus bring fecundity to the Church,” Francis said.
He said that many others face “white glove” martyrdom, a term that he has used since the early years of his pontificate to indicate a subtle form of persecution through which Christians are driven away, marginalized, and discriminated against in political and social life.
“Let us support them and be inspired by their testimony of love for Christ,” Francis urged his listeners.
While reminding his audience that the Church was remembering the Roman Protomartyrs, Francis said that all Christians were living “in a time of martyrdom, one that is even more so than in the early centuries.”
The Roman Protomartyrs were the first disciples of the Apostles and the first group of Christians to suffer martyrdom in Rome, particularly during the persecution under Emperor Nero following the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64.
The Protomartyrs are honored with a site dedicated to them near Rome’s Saint Peter’s Basilica under the title Square of the Roman Protomartyrs (Piazza dei Protomartiri Romani).
Francis reminded the audience to not forget the people of Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, and many other places where there is much “suffering due to war.”
The pope also mentioned the children of the Misyjna Jutrzenka Missionary Circle from Skoczów, Poland, the faithful from California and Costa Rica, and the youth from Gonzaga in Italy, among others.
He also greeted the religious sisters of the Daughters of the Church founded by the Venerable Maria Oliva Bonald who undertook a pilgrimage in the footsteps of their foundress along with some laity.
