Pope visits Marian sanctuary, prays for end to war, terrorism

Published: 2006-05-01

ROME (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI made a May Day pilgrimage to Rome's largest Marian sanctuary and prayed that Mary would help free the world from immorality, war and terrorism. The pope said he hoped his visit to the Divine Love Sanctuary on the southern edge of the city would help Catholics in the Diocese of Rome rediscover Marian devotion. Pope Benedict was repeating a gesture carried out by Pope John Paul II, who visited the same sanctuary on the first day of May in 1979, early in his pontificate. After praying the rosary with several hundred of the faithful before a statue of Mary, the pope gave a talk recalling how, in 1944, Romans had solemnly requested Mary's help in saving the city from war. In exchange, he said, people promised to correct and improve their moral conduct. "Today, too, there is a need for conversion to God, to the God who is love, so that the world will be liberated from wars and from terrorism," he said.

Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .