Message of His Holiness Pope Francis to the youth during the Papal encounter at UST.
(Moved by young Filipinos who read their messages and told their stories, Pope Francis discarded his prepared message and did impromptu remarks in Spanish, translated by Msgr. Mark Miles in English.)
The pope's message reads as below:
Dear Young Friends,
When I speak spontaneously I do it in Spanish, because I don’t know the English language. May I do it? Thank you very much. This Fr Mark, a good translator.
First of all, a sad piece of news. Yesterday, as Mass was about to start, a piece of scaffolding fell and, upon falling, hit a young woman who was working in the area and she died. Her name is Kristel. She worked for the organisation preparing for that Mass. She was 27 years old, young like yourselves. She worked for Catholic Relief Services as a volunteer. I would like all of you who are young like her to pray for a moment in silence with me and then we will pray to Our Mother in Heaven. Let us pray.
