Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Prior to the Angelus, today at noon John Paul II prayed for the victims of the Bam (Iran) earthquake, asking the international community to respond generously and soliciting help for victims of the major tremor that hit southeast Iran on Friday.

"I invite international organizations, and especially international Catholic charities, - the pope said -  "to respond generously to our Iranian brothers and sisters struck by such a grave catastrophe. May the entire world's solidarity, particularly felt during the Christmas season, make their situation less dramatic."

Yesterday, Wojtyla sent his condolences to the Iranian government and people in which he expressed to them his "spiritual nearness".

Below is Asianews's traslation of the pope's words spoken prior to the Marian prayer:

 

"Dear brothers and sisters!

For some time since Christmas, and especially today, the Church has contemplated the meaning of the Holy Family. The school in Nazareth teaches us that every family must learn to be a breeding ground for love, unity and openness to life.

In our time, a misunderstood sense of rights sometimes disturbs the very nature of the institution of the family and its ties to marriage. It is necessary to join efforts at all levels of all those who believe in the importance of the family based on marriage. It is a human and divine reality that must be defended and promoted as a fundamental good in society. 

Christians, as Vatican Council II reminds us, who are attentive to the signs of the time must do their best to "diligently develop marriage and family values; they must do it as testament to their very lives, as their actions exemplify men of good will. " (Gaudium et spes, 52) The Gospel of the family must be proclaimed with joy and courage.

For such a purpose we offer up our common prayer to Jesus, Mary and Joseph for all families, particularly for those in physical and spiritual difficulty.

We also pray for the inhabitants of Bam, Iran, who in these past days have been victims of a most violent earthquake. We entrust to our merciful Lord the thousands of persons who have lost their lives, as well as those who have been wounded and are homeless survivors in need of help. "I invite international organizations, and especially international Catholic charities, - the pope said -  "to respond generously to our Iranian brothers and sisters struck by such a grave catastrophe. May the entire world's solidarity, particularly felt during the Christmas season, make their situation less dramatic."

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