Bishops across Mexico express closeness and prayers for Pope John Paul

Mexico City, Mexico, Feb 6, 2005 / 22:00 pm

Bishops across Mexico offered up prayers to Our Lady of Guadalupe this week for the speedy recovery of Pope John Paul II.

In a statement released by the Bishops Conference of Mexico, the prelates said the presence of Holy Father, for “as long as Divine Providence wills it, is a blessing and grace for the Church.”

The Pope “has always moved us by the extraordinary manner in which he bears his illness and makes it an integral part of his ministry and apostolic work,” said the bishops, adding that John Paul II teaches mankind how to grow old and how to face difficulties, and how to be the living Christ that never ceases to proclaim the Gospel to all people “giving of himself until the last stage of his life.”

The bishops said they prayed to Our Lady of Guadalupe, whom the Pope has visited on five occasions, for his health and for the good of the Church in the world.

The Apostolic Nuncio in Mexico, Archbishop Giussepe Bertello, expressed thanks in the name of the Holy Father for the show of affection and for the prayers of the Mexican people, and he asked for continued prayers for the Pope.

The nuncio also thanked Mexican television networks for broadcasting footage of Mexicans praying at the Basilica of Guadalupe for Pope John Paul II.