He Pope Francisco dedicated much of the first week of March to pray for the immigration tragedy that occurred in Italia in which 62 migrants died fleeing from war and violence. As usual, the Supreme Pontiff echoed “the dramas of the world”, something that was reflected in the latest version in Spanish of The Osservatore Romanothe Vatican weekly in charge of disseminating papal activity.
On the front page of the newspaper of March 3, this impulse of Francisco to not look to the side of the international reality in favor of the vulnerable is reflected. In this case with an impressive photo that accompanies the title “A sea of tears”, in reference to the most recent migratory tragedy on the European shores of the Mediterranean.
“At least 68 immigrants, including a large number of childrendied at dawn on Sunday, February 26, when the boat in which they were traveling to try to reach Europe and which had departed from Turkey sank a few meters off the coast of Calabria, in southern Italy, ”says the cover of the newspaper. weekly.

Meanwhile, the Bishop of Rome highlighted his “pain” for what happened on the coast of Calabria, Italy, where the remains of the boat that illegally transferred some 150 immigrants from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan arrived, of which only 80 they managed to survive. He “I pray for each one of them, for the disappeared and for the surviving migrants. I thank all those who have helped them and those who are welcoming them”, said the Pontiff.
From the window of his private study, with this theme, the Pope inaugurated the last Marian prayer every Wednesday before 20,000 faithful and supporters gathered in Saint Peter’s Square. On that occasion, the Pontiff commented on the Gospel of the first Sunday of Lent related to the temptations of Jesus in the desert tempted by the devil (cf. Mt 4,1-11).
Francis called on governments to recognize “the indigenous peoples of the whole world”
In this sense, Francis stressed that although Jesus came into the world to promote unity, something that he himself preaches to the world, the devil, on the contrary, seeks to “divide Jesus from the Father and separate him from his mission of unity to we”.
After the Angelus, in addition to recalling the drama of migrants, the Pope launched an appeal for peace in the Holy Land, Burkina Faso and Ukraine and for the Syrian and Turkish peoples hit by the earthquake. Finally, he greeted those present, including exponents of the Italian Association of Organ Donors and participants in the Day of Rare Diseases, at the traditional meeting that took place on February 28.
The Pope’s visit to Hungary
The weekly also published Francisco’s travel program to Hungarya visit questioned by several international actors due to the criticism against their prime minister Viktor Orbansuch as the lack of condemnation of the Vladimir Putin regime and criticism of military assistance to Ukraine by the West.
Meanwhile, the weekly confirmed that the Pope Francis will travel to Budapest between April 28 and 30. “Accepting the invitation of the civil and ecclesial authorities, Pope Francis will make an apostolic trip to Hungary from April 28 to 30, 2023, visiting the city of Budapest”, he indicates.
Pope Francis cuts benefits to cardinals and administrators of the Holy See
For the Pontiff it is a return to the Hungarian capital, where he had already traveled on September 12, 2021 to celebrate the closing Mass of the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress in Heroes’ Square. At that time he met with the Hungarian Prime Minister and President and the bishops, among others. This time, a program has been organized with the characteristics of an international trip, the 41st of the pontificate, the second of this 2023. In the three days that he will spend in Budapest, the Pope will deliver five speeches and a homily, followed by the Regina Caeli prayer .
Other passages from L’Obsservatore Romano
In another section of the weekly it is read that the Supreme Pontiff highlighted the tension between the real and the virtual in the era of globalization and hyperconnectivity. “Technology cannot replace human contact, the virtual cannot replace the real and neither can social networks in the social sphere,” she warned.
This was stated in the speech addressed to the members of the Pontifical Academy for Life received in audience on the morning of Monday, February 20, in the Consistory Hall, on the occasion of the 28th general assembly that has been held in the Vatican since that day. until Wednesday 22 on the theme «Converge in the person. Emerging technologies for the common good”.
Despite the fatigue, Francisco said that the popes “are for life” and should not be resigned “for fashion”
Lastly, the weekly highlighted Francisco’s commitment to the situation in Ukraine after one year of the start of the invasion. “war destroys everyone“, he asserted.
“When God made man, he said to take the earth, make it grow, beautify it. The spirit of war is the opposite: destroy, destroy, not let it grow, destroy everyone, men, women, children, the elderly, everyone. Today marks one year of this war. Let’s look at Ukraine, pray for Ukraine and open our hearts to pain. Let’s not be ashamed to suffer and cry, because a war is destruction, a war always dwarfs us. May God make us understand this “, hill.
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