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A powerful message of hope from Pope Francis during the height of the pandemic, will be transmitted from space thanks to a satellite launched from the Californian Vandenberg Space Base.
The pope’s message, delivered from a desolate St Peter’s Square in March 2020, emphasises the need for unity and resilience in facing adversity.
Now, excerpts of his inspiring words will allow radio enthusiasts from around the world to tune in and experience the Pope’s message firsthand.
Pope Francis acknowledged the vulnerability exposed by the pandemic and encouraged people of goodwill to use this time of trial as an opportunity for reflection and growth.
The Pope’s address, known as the Urbi et Orbi blessing, is typically reserved for special occasions like Christmas, Easter and papal elections, drawing massive crowds.
However, due to the circumstances, Pope Francis delivered this blessing in an empty square, surrounded only by the echoes of his powerful words.
“From this colonnade that embraces Rome and the whole world, may God’s blessing come down upon you as a consoling embrace,” Francis said, imploring God to “give health to our bodies and comfort our hearts.”
Pope urges followers to find courage
Despite the darkness that engulfed their lives, filling them with silence and uncertainty, Pope Francis urged individuals to find courage, and make room for the transformative power of faith and hope.
“Embracing one’s cross means finding the courage to embrace all the hardships of the present time, abandoning for a moment our eagerness for power and possessions in order to make room for the creativity that only the Spirit is capable of inspiring… embracing the Lord in order to embrace hope: that is the strength of faith which frees us from fear and gives us hope.”
Spei Satelles, “guardian of hope,” is the name of the space mission, promoted by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication.
“Pope Francis’ message in space is a sign and image of tenderness and blessing for the world,” said Msgr Lucio Adriàn Ruiz, secretary of the Dicastery for Communication and creator of the Spei Salletes project.
According to the official website of Spei Satelles, the message is “a strong, evocative, universal, engaging gesture that calls humanity to hope and the need for it to be cultivated with concrete, material or spiritual gestures such as the one performed by the Pope in that empty square.”
Radio enthusiasts worldwide can capture these transmissions through ultra-high frequency UHF communication systems operating on the 437.5 MHz frequency.
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