Telegram for victims of Munich attack

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis expressed his condolences for the victims of the attack that took place in Munich on Friday.

In a telegram addressed to Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the Archbishop of Munich, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said Pope Francis “shares in the pain of the survivors and expresses to them his closeness in suffering,” and “entrusts the departed, in prayer, to the mercy of God.”

The Pope also thanked emergency service personnel and security forces for “their attentive and generous service.”

Cardinal Parolin concluded the telegram with the Pope’s prayer that Christ “the Lord of Life,” might “give comfort and consolation to all.”

Here is the full text of the telegram sent to Cardinal Reinhard Marx:

His Eminence
Cardinal Reinhard Marx
Archbishop of Munich and Freising

Pope Francis has noted with consternation the news of the terrible act of violence which occurred in Munich, in which several persons, mostly young people, were killed, and many others were gravely wounded. His Holiness shares in the pain of the survivors and expresses to them his closeness in suffering. He entrusts the departed in prayer to the mercy of God. He expresses his deep sympathy to all those who were wounded in this attack, and thanks the rescue service personnel and the security forces for their attentive and generous service. Pope Francis beseeches Christ, the Lord of Life, to give comfort and consolation to all, and imparts his Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of hope.