January 10, 2010.
During the Angelus,
Benedict XVI remembered the first anniversary of the terrible
earthquake that took place in Haiti. One year after this disaster,
the Pope renewed his closeness with the families of the over 250,000
victims and those suffering from the cholera epidemic sweeping the
country.
Benedict XVI
“
The people of Haiti
a year after the great earthquake which was, alas, followed by a
serious cholera epidemic.”
To mark the anniversary,
Benedict XVI sent Cardinal Robert Sarah to the Caribbean island. He
is the president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the Vatican's
department for humanitarian aid. With him he brought 1.2 million
dollars on behalf of the Pope, to help rebuild schools and churches
destroyed in the earthquake.
During the Angelus,
Benedict XVI also greeted the Coptic Christians, who in recent months
have been victims of several violent attacks. The last took place in
an Egyptian church on New Year's Day, killing 21 people.
The Baptism of Jesus was
also commemorated during this Angelus, the Pope explained the
importance of rediscovering the meaning of the sacrament of baptism.
As well as the role that parents and godparents play in the Christian
formation of the newly baptized.
Benedict XVI
“
This is a great
responsibility, which derives from a great gift! Therefore, I wish to
encourage all the faithful to rediscover the beauty of being baptized
and thus of belonging to the great family of God, and to bear joyful
witness to their faith that it may generate fruit of goodness and
harmony.”
The Pope also encouraged
giving Christian names to newborns, because he said “it's the sure
sign that the Holy Spirit again gives birth to man in the Church.”
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