Rabat, 09 September, 2023 / 9:50 pm (ACI Africa).
Pope Francis has offered Morocco “prayerful communion” following the Friday, September 8 deadly earthquake that, according to media reports, has left at least 1,300 people dead, and caused widespread damage in and around the Northern African nation’s city of Marrakesh.
In his Saturday, September 9 telegram message addressed to the victims of the earthquake in Morocco on behalf of the Holy Father, the Vatican Secretary of State says that Pope Francis “expresses his deep solidarity with those who are touched in their flesh and their hearts by this tragedy.”
“Having learned with pain the earthquake that violently struck Morocco, His Holiness Pope Francis wishes to express his prayerful communion in the face of this natural disaster,” says Pietro Cardinal Parolin.
Cardinal Parolin adds that Pope Francis is saddened by the event and that “he prays for the souls of the dead, the healing of the wounded, and the consolation of those who mourn the loss of their loved ones and their homes.”
“The Holy Father requests the most high God to support the Moroccans in this ordeal and offers his encouragement to the civil authorities and the relief services,” the Vatican Secretary of State says, adding that the Holy Father “gladly calls upon all divine blessings as a guarantee of comfort.”
