Pope sends condolences to families of Russian plane crash victims

Published: 2004-08-26

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As Russian investigators continued looking into what caused two passenger planes to crash almost simultaneously, Pope John Paul II sent his condolences to the families of the 89 victims. "Informed of the sad news of the airplane crashes," the pope asked his nuncio to Russia, Archbishop Antonio Mennini, to convey his "deep condolences to the authorities of the Russian Federation and to the families and relatives of the victims." The pope's condolences and his promises of prayers for the deceased were communicated in an Aug. 26 telegram sent to Archbishop Mennini by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state. In Moscow, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz said that "the whole church is praying for those caught up in this terrible national tragedy." The two Tupolev planes took off from Moscow's Domodedevo Airport about 40 minutes apart; they crashed Aug. 24 within three minutes of each other, about 500 miles apart.

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