The Pope participates in the suffering and consternation of the Orthodox Patriarch of Ethiopia for the recent slaughter of Christians

Vatican City, 21 April 2015 (VIS) – Yesterday afternoon Pope Francis sent a message to the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Church, His Holiness Abuna Matthias, upon hearing of the slaughter of 28 Ethiopian Christians kidnapped in Libya by the group ISIS.

“With great distress and sadness I learn of the further shocking violence perpetrated against innocent Christians in Libya. I know that Your Holiness is suffering deeply in heart and mind at the sight of your faithful children being killed for the sole reason that they are followers of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I reach out to you in heartfelt spiritual solidarity to assure you of my closeness in prayer at the continuing martyrdom being so cruelly inflicted on Christians in Africa, the Middle East and some parts of Asia.

It makes no difference whether the victims are Catholic, Copt, Orthodox or Protestant. Their blood is one and the same in their confession of Christ! The blood of our Christian brothers and sisters is a testimony which cries out to be heard by everyone who can still distinguish between good and evil. All the more this cry must be heard by those who have the destiny of peoples in their hands.

At this time we are filled with the Easter joy of the disciples to whom the women had brought the news that 'Christ has risen from the dead'. This year, that joy – which never fades – is tinged with profound sorrow. Yet we know that the life we live in God’s merciful love is stronger than the pain all Christians feel, a pain shared by men and women of good will in all religious traditions.

With heartfelt condolences I exchange with Your Holiness the embrace of peace in Christ Our Lord”.

Collaboration agreements with UNICEF and CONMEBOL in favour of Scholas Occurrentes, signed before the Holy Father

Vatican City, 21 April 2015 (VIS) – This morning, in the Domus Sanctae Marthae and in the presence of Pope Francis, the executive director of UNICEF, Anthony Lake, and the deputy president of CONMEBOL signed two collaboration agreements in favour of Scholas Occurrentes, the educational network supported by the Holy Father.

UNICEF is the United Nations Children's Fund, and CONMEBOL the South American Football Confederation. Scholas Occurrentes is a the first worldwide initiative with the aim of promoting integration and peace between peoples through education, connecting more than 400,000 schools and educational networks, both public and private and of all religions. The five-year collaboration with UNICEF will be based on the broadening of access for young children, especially the most disadvantaged, to technology, sport and the arts – platforms for education, participation and the building of peace, enabling the young to learn about themselves, others and the world that surrounds them.

Scholas and UNICEF will initially cooperate in a series of joint activities worldwide, with the special aim of bringing an end to violence and promoting the connectedness of all young people, making the most of the unique capacities of each person to favour the participation of adolescents and to broaden their access to the tools and information they need to be connected, to communicate and to collaborate.

The two organisations will explore the bonds between their respective platforms for mobilisation on social networks and communication media, and will support both digital campaigns and social movements in aid of the most disadvantaged children. The specific collaboration projects include involvement in the Scholas network in terms of content and opportunities for the participation by young people in “The young express their own opinion”, UNICEF's online space for adolescents and young people. UNICEF will also adapt the U-Report for the Scholas global community, which will enable its members to join the 500,000 or so young people who already use the mobile-based platform to speak about their interests and to participate.

The organisations will also develop new opportunities for collaboration in relation to major events centred on world youth, such as the Summit on the Social Impact of Youth, to be held during the Summer Games of the Special Olympics in 2015 in Los Angeles. In 2016, the association will begin to explore initiatives at regional, national and community levels, including campaigns to raise awareness and joint promotional activities linked to issues affecting millions of disadvantaged adolescents.

In memoriam

Vatican City, 20 April 2015 (VIS) – The following prelates have died in recent weeks:

- Bishop Andre Vallee, P.M.E., emeritus of Hearst, Canada, on 28 February at the age of 84.

- Cardinal Edward Michael Egan, archbishop emeritus of New York, U.S.A, on 5 March at the age of 82.

- Bishop Antonio Dorado Soto, emeritus of Malaga, Spain, on 17 March at the age of 83.

- Bishop Malachy John Goltok, of Bauchi, Nigeria, on 21 March at the age of 49.

- Archbishop Ennio Appignanesi, emeritus of Potenza-Muro Lucano-Marsico Nuovo Italy, on 26 March at the age of 89.

- Bishop Alonso Llano Ruiz, emeritus of Istmina-Tado, Colombia, on 26 March at the age of 83.

- Bishop Juan Carlos Maccarone, emeritus of Santiago del Estero, Argentina, on 29 March at the age of 74.

- Bishop Alberto Ricardo da Silva, emeritus of Dili, East Timor, on 2 April at the age of 71.

- Bishop William Benedict Friend, emeritus of Shreveport, U.S.A. on 2 April at the age of 83.

- Archbishop Luis María Perez de Onraita Aguirre, emeritus of Malanje, Angola on 3 April at the age of 81.

- Bishop Eugene Moke Motsuri , auxiliary emeritus of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, on 6 April at the age of 99.

- Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, archbishop emeritus of Montreal, Canada, on 8 April at the age of 78.

- Bishop Joao Alves dos Santos, O.F.M. Cap., of Paranagua, Brazil, on 9 April at the age of 58.

-Bishop Elmo Noel Joseph Perera, emeritus of Galle, Sri Lanka, on 9 April at the age of 82.

- Bishop Antonio Alberto Guimaraes Rezende, C.S.S., emeritus of Caetite, Brazil, on 13 April at the age of 89.

- Cardinal Roberto Tucci, S.J., on 14 April, at the age of 93.

- Bishop Felice Leonardo, emeritus of Cerreto Sannita-Telese-Sant’Agata de’ Goti, Italy, on 15 April at the age of 100

- Cardinal Francis Eugene George, O.M.I., archbishop emeritus of Chicago, U.S.A., on 17 April at the age of 78.