|06/09/19 01:48 PM

The Pope visited AIDS patients in Mozambique

Francisco will hold a mass that is expected to be massive and then travel to the island of Madagascar

Por Redacción

06 de septiembre, 2019 - 13:49

Pope Francis visited a AIDS care center on Friday in the capital of Mozambique, heavily affected by this epidemic, before saying goodbye to the country with a mass, as part of his African tour.

Francisco praised "the compassion" of health workers who listen to "that silent, barely audible cry of countless women, of so many who lived in shame, marginalized, judged by all."

The Argentine sovereign pontiff avoided addressing the issue of the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, which continues to be a mine ground for the Catholic Church and which is especially evident during papal visits to Africa.

"What the poor do not need is an act of delegation, but the personal commitment of those who hear their cry," said Pope Francis, who thanked the center's workers for "restoring the dignity" of women and children".

The pope, who encouraged him to continue the search for "the wounded and defeated in the peripheries," then went to greet patients.

After his visit to the hospital, the Pope will officiate a mass at the stadium in Zimpeto, with a capacity for 42,000 people. Then, the pontiff will head to the great island of Madagascar, in the Indian Ocean.

But this visit to the hospital represents a highly symbolic role, in a country where the situation is particularly critical.

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