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                               VIS-Press releases

PRAYERS FOR VICTIMS OF MASSACRE AT COPTIC CHURCH IN EGYPT

VATICAN CITY, 2 JAN 2011 (VIS) - At midday today the Pope appeared at the
window of his study in the Apostolic Palace to pray the Angelus with thousands
of faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square.

The Pope again expressed his felicitations for the new year, and thanked
everyone who had sent him "messages of spiritual support".

Commenting on today's reading, a reiteration of the prologue of the St. John's
Gospel as proclaimed on Christmas Day, the Pope highlighted how "this wondrous
text expresses, in the form of a hymn, the mystery of the Incarnation as
preached by the eye witnesses, the Apostles and in particular St. John whose
feast falls on 27 December".

Benedict XVI then addressed some remarks to thousands of people gathered in
Plaza de Colon in Madrid, Spain, who were following him on live television
linkup. They are celebrating, for the fourth consecutive year, the feast of the
family which has as its theme this year: "The Christian family. Hope for
Europe".

"I invite you", said Benedict XVI, "to be strong in love and humbly to
contemplate the mystery of Christmas, which continues to speak to our hearts
and becomes a school of family and fraternal life. The maternal gaze of the
Virgin Mary, the loving protection of St. Joseph and the sweet presence of the
Baby Jesus provide a clear image of how each Christian family should be: a true
shrine of fidelity, respect and understanding in which faith is transmitted,
hope fortified and charity enflamed. I encourage everyone to live their
Christian vocation with renewed enthusiasm in the home, as genuine servants of
the love which welcomes, accompanies and defends life. Make your houses true
seedbeds of virtue, and serene and luminous areas of trust in which, guided by
the grace of God, it is possible to discern the call of the Lord Who continues
to invite us to follow Him. With these feelings I fervently entrust the goals
and fruits of your meeting to the Holy Family, that joy, mutual commitment and
generosity may reign in a growing number of families".

After the Angelus prayer the Holy Father referred to "news of the serious
attack against the Coptic Christian community in Alexandria, Egypt. This vile
and murderous gesture, like that of placing bombs near the houses of Christians
in Iraq to force them to leave, offends God and all humankind, which only
yesterday prayed for peace and began a new year with hope. In the face of these
strategies of violence, which aim against Christians but have consequences on
the entire population, I pray for the victims and their relatives, and
encourage ecclesial communities to persevere in the faith and in the witness of
non-violence which comes to us from the Gospel. I think also of the many
pastoral workers killed in various parts of the world in the course of 2010.
For them too we equally express our affectionate remembrance before the Lord.
Let us remain united in Christ, our hope and our peace!"
ANG/VIS 20110103 (520)

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