Pope Francis announced on Friday, after the Angelus prayer, that the first edition of World Children’s Day will take place in Rome on May 25 and 26, 2024.
“I am happy to announce that on May 25 and 26 next year we will celebrate the first World Children’s Day in Rome,” Francis announced from the window of the Apostolic Palace to the hundreds of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
The initiative is sponsored by the Dicastery for Culture and Education and aims to think about “what kind of world [se quer] leave it to the kids.”
“Like Jesus, we want to put children first and care for them,” he said.
The idea of this day, which will be observed in the same vein as World Youth Day (WYD), was proposed to the Pope in July by a 9-year-old boy, Alessandro, as part of a ‘podcast’ produced by the Vatican media, featuring in view of the WYD in Lisbon.
After two Sundays in which, due to bronchitis and pneumonia, he entrusted the reading of his speeches to an assistant, Francisco returned today from his residence, Casa Santa Marta, to the balcony of the Apostolic Palace.
On Thursday, the Pope delivered the speeches he had planned for different audiences without assistance, in a return to normality.
On the occasion of the Immaculate Conception, celebrated today, Francis will make his first trip outside the Vatican, from Bronchitis, to the Spanish Steps to pay tribute to the image of the Virgin Mary.
Before that, he passes the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore to decorate the icon “Salus Populi Romani” with the “Golden Rose”, an award awarded by Popes since the Middle Ages.
Francis asked the faithful in Rome from the traditional window to unite spiritually in these gestures and to pray “especially for peace in Ukraine, Palestine and Israel,” as well as “in all countries wounded by wars.”
“We pray for peace, for peace in hearts, for peace,” he said.
Source: DN
