Pope in Romania / Sovereign Pontiff arrives in Blaj

Pope Francis arrives on Sunday, the last day of his visit to Romania, in Blaj, where he will be holding the ceremony of beatification of seven martyred Greek-Catholic bishops on the Liberty Field, and also meet in the afternoon, in the "Barbu Lautaru" neighborhood, the Roma community in the same locality. The Pope left Sibiu heading to Blaj by car, and not by helicopter, as originally scheduled. The Inter-ministerial Security Committee "Pope Francis 2019 Visit" announced that, due to the bad weather conditions, the journey of His Holiness changed, and they chose that he will use a car to go to Blaj. Upon his arrival in Blaj, Pope Francis climbed into the popemobile, while he was acclaimed by the locals and the faithful. The Sovereign Pontiff saluted the crowd, while the Catholic Choir from the Greek Catholic Church of St. Peter of Brasov interpreted the "Song for Bishops of the Martyrs."                                 The Inter-Ministerial Security Committee "Pope Francis 2019 Visit" has reported there were 100,000 people at the Blaj public events and on the travel routes. President Klaus Iohannis and his wife, Carmen, who is a Greek-Catholic, also went to Blaj. Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, accompanied by several members of the government, is also in attendance. Up front, there are the relatives of the seven martyred bishops who will be beatified by Pope Francis. The Pope will celebrate in Blaj the third Holy Mass of his Apostolic Journey to Romania, a service in which the seven Catholic martyrs will be beatified. Normally, the beatification is handled by the Prefect Cardinal of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, but this time Pope Francis himself will preside the ceremony. The Archbishop's throne the Pontiff will sit on during the service was built from wooden pieces taken from the prisons of Sighet and Gherla, where the martyrdom of the bishops took place, thus having "strong spiritual and symbolic meanings." "We thought of a throne for Pope Francis to be made from wooden pieces and bars from the communist prisons, where the bishops were imprisoned. It is a symbol offering to the Pope of Rome from our Church. It is a testimony to Christ (the martyrdom of the bishops - editor's note), but also to the communion with the Holy Father. Therefore, the throne symbolically contains the sufferings of our Church," said the Bishop of Curia of the Major Archdiocese of Alba Iulia and Fagaras, Claudiu Pop. At the end of the Holy Mass, the Sovereign Pontiff will say the prayer "Regina Caeli (Queen of Heaven)," with the moment of the antiphon Marian prayer to be transmitted worldwide in 200 countries. AGERPRES (RO - authors: Marinela Brumar, Sorin Blada, editor: George Onea; EN - author/editor: Cristina Zaharia)