Pope Francis used his 3rd June audience and a phone call with the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to express his solidarity and support following days of demonstrations protesting the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
In a 3rd June letter to his fellow bishops, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles told them Pope Francis had called him ‘to express his prayers and closeness to the Church and people of the United States in this moment of unrest in our country’.
Archbishop Gomez wrote that the pope ‘thanked the bishops for the pastoral tone of the Church’s response to the demonstrations across the country in our statements and actions since the death’ of Floyd. The pope also said he was praying for Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda and the Church of St Paul and Minneapolis, Archbishop Gomez wrote.
Archbishop Gomez thanked the pope ‘for his prayers and strong words of support at the conclusion’ of his Wednesday general audience.
In his livestreamed general audience on 3rd June, the pope said, “Today I join the Church in St Paul and Minneapolis, and in the entire United States, in praying for the repose of the soul of George Floyd and of all those others who have lost their lives as a result of the sin of racism”.
Picture: Pope Francis greets Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, during his ‘ad limina’ visit to the Vatican on 27th January 2020. (CNS photo/Vatican Media).
