Vatican City, Feb 24, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican Secretary of State, sent a telegram of condolences on behalf of Pope John Paul II, to Archbishop Antonio Sozzo, Apostolic Nuncio in Morocco, for the victims of the earthquake in the northern part of that country which has killed an estimated 600 people.
The message expressed the Pope’s prayers “to the families and to all Moroccans touched by this drama.”
He also asked “the Almighty to welcome into His Kingdom the victims and to bring comfort and courage to the wounded, to those close to them and to persons participating in rescue operations, in the hope that gestures of solidarity will be shown to lighten the pain of our brothers and sister in mankind.”