VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Even while enjoying a summer break, people should not forget those who are suffering because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis said Aug. 16 after reciting the Angelus prayer with visitors in St. Peter’s Square. The pope’s call for prayers for those who have lost their jobs because of the pandemic was just one of several public appeals the pope made Aug. 15-16. Marking the feast of the Assumption of Mary Aug. 15, the pope also prayed with pilgrims gathered at midday in a sweltering St. Peter’s Square. Referring to Mary under the title “Mother of Hope,” he encouraged people to “invoke her intercession for all the situations in the world that are most in need of hope: hope for peace, for justice, hope for a dignified life.” The pope drew attention to the people of northern Nigeria suffering because of “violence and terrorist attacks” both by suspected members of Boko Haram and other fundamentalist groups and by gangs of “bandits” who are terrorizing villages and farms, stealing cattle and murdering people.
