Pope Francis read out Sunday prayers with a crowd of believers in St. Peter’s Square and delivered a sermon on the balcony of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, for the first time since March 1, when the restrictions of the Corona Virus were begun.
For the past three months, Pope Francis has been addressing the Catholics every week via live broadcasts on the Internet from the Pontifical Library, before briefly looking into the congregations in St. Peter’s Square, last Sunday .
In his speech devoted to the great feast of Pentecost, which is celebrated today on the anniversary of the advent of the Holy Spirit on the first Christian community, the Pope focused on the meanings and significance of this holiday, especially in the time of Corona.
And the Pope said: “At this time of epidemic, how much harm does narcissism and isolation cause to our own needs, indifference to the needs of others, and failure to acknowledge our weakness and our mistakes.”
The pope singled out the Brazilian Amazon region, where there are many “injured and dead, even among the particularly vulnerable indigenous peoples.”
He said: “I pray for the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the mother of the Amazon, for the poorest and most isolated in that dear region, and also for all the poor and defenseless in the world, and I appeal to everyone to receive health care.”
He continued: “We have to take care of the people, not provide for the sake of the economy … We have to take care of the people because they are more important than the economy. We are the structures of the Holy Spirit, but the economy is not.”
Francis reaffirmed his appreciation “to those who have given their testimony to the care of the relative” and said: “I remember with gratitude and admiration all those who lost their lives while helping the sick. Let us pray silently for the doctors, volunteers, nurses, health workers and many who lost their lives during this stage.”