POPE SPEAKS OF "INTOLERABLE PHENOMENON" OF CHILD LABOR

VATICAN CITY, MAY 19, 2002 (VIS) - Following Mass today, Pentecost Sunday, during which the Pope canonized five Blesseds, he prayed the Regina Coeli with the faithful gathered in a rain-drenched St. Peter's Square.

Before the prayer, however, he had multi-language greetings for the pilgrims present. He also noted that "yesterday in Italy, was a day of sensitizing people to the serious problem of child labor, promoted by the Global March against Child Labor and the Extended Hands Association. May such an initiative be a propitious occasion for seeking efficacious ways of solving this intolerable phenomenon."

The Holy Father then saluted "the young people gathered in San Giovanni Rotondo in preparation for the canonization of Padre Pio. Walk with courage, dear young people, on the path of holiness."
"In conclusion," he said, "I wish to express my gratitude for the wishes that have been expressed to me in everyone's name by Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, dean of the College of Cardinals. In particular I am comforted by the assurance of special prayers for me and for the fulfillment of the petrine service entrusted to me by the Lord. In this perspective I ask you now to join me in invoking the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom we turn, singing the Regina Coeli."

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