Francesca Sabatinelli – Vatican

In a salutation, at the conclusion of Regina Quelly, Francis recalls that the faithful in China, tomorrow, Monday May 24, celebrate the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary to help Christians and the “Heavenly Shepherd of their great,” revered country “with a special dedication at the Shishan Shrine in Shanghai,” as the Pope explains, Christian families diligently evoke it in the experiences and hopes of everyday life:

How good and how necessary it is for members of the family and the Christian community to be united more than ever in love and faith! In this way, parents, children, grandparents, children, pastors and believers can follow the example of the first disciples who gathered on Pentecost to pray with Mary waiting for the Holy Spirit.

That is why the Supreme Pontiff invites everyone to accompany the “warm prayer” of the Christian believers in China, “whom I keep in the depths of my heart,” and invokes the Holy Spirit, the hero of the Church’s mission in the world, so that he “can”. He guides them and helps them to be bearers of good tidings, witnesses of goodness and benevolence, and builders of justice and peace in their homeland. “

Week of Prayer for the Church and the People of China

It was Pope Benedict XVI, in 2007, who set May 24, the Feast of Our Lady in Aid to Christians, as an international day of prayer for the Church in China. This year, Cardinal Charles Poe, president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, called on the faithful to extend this moment to a whole week called, specifically, the Week of Prayer for the Church and the People of China.