VIDEO MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
ON THE OCCASION OF HIS UPCOMING
APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO MOZAMBIQUE
[4 - 6 September 2019]

[Multimedia]

Dear people of Mozambique!

In a few days I will begin my visit to your country and, although I am unable to go beyond the capital, my heart reaches out to embrace all of you, with a special place for those who live in difficult situations. I would like to leave you with this certainty: you are all in my prayers. I look forward to meeting you.

As I have received — and I thank you! — the invitation of the President and my brother Bishops to come visit you, so I invite you all to join with me in praying that God, the Father of all, may strengthen efforts towards reconciliation, fraternal reconciliation in Mozambique and throughout Africa, which is the only hope for a solid and lasting peace.

I will have the joy of sharing these convictions directly with you and also of seeing how the seeds sown by my predecessor, Saint John Paul ii, are growing. This journey will allow me to meet the Catholic community and confirm it in its witness to the Gospel, which affirms the dignity of every man and woman and asks us to open our hearts to others, especially the poor and needy.

Dear brothers and sisters, I know that many of you are working to prepare my visit, including by offering your prayers, and I thank you wholeheartedly. Upon you and upon your country I invoke the blessings of God and the protection of our Mother, the Virgin Mary. See you soon!