Two young female pilgrims have died during Youth Jubilee celebrations. Pope Leo XIV, speaking at Tor Vergata, requested prayers “for Maria, a Spanish girl, and Pascale, an Egyptian girl.” He added, “Let us also pray for their families” and “for a young Spanish man, Ignazio Goncalves, who was admitted to the Bambino Gesù hospital.”
Pascale Rafic was travelling to Rome from Egypt to participate in the Youth Jubilee. Pope Leo XIV contacted Bishop Jean-Marie Chami, Titular Bishop of Tarsus and Auxiliary Bishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchal Church of Antioch for Egypt, Sudan, and South Sudan. The Pope conveyed “his spiritual closeness to the young woman’s family and the entire community.”
The 18-year-old Egyptian woman had arrived in Italy for the Youth Jubilee with the Egypt-South Sudan delegation and was staying with her group at a parish in Artena, a municipality in the Rome province. She died overnight from cardiac arrest while on a bus.
“The Holy Father, sharing in the sorrow of all affected by this tragic event, assures prayers for the deceased and invokes from the Lord comfort and consolation for the family, friends, and all who mourn her loss,” stated the Vatican press office.
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