By Joseph Tulloch

During his greetings to French speakers at this week’s General Audience, Pope Francis said he was praying for the victims of the recent cyclone in the French Indian Ocean Territory of Mayotte. 

Cyclone Chido hit Mayotte on Saturday, leaving widespread destruction in its wake – thousands are now feared dead.

Speaking recently to Vatican News, Marc Bulteau of Secours Catholique, the French branch of Caritas, described the situation on the archipelago as “truly apocalyptic”.

With a population of about 300,000, Mayotte is the European Union’s poorest territory, with around a third of its inhabitants living in makeshift slums. Most of these have now been razed to the ground. 

At today’s General Audience, the Pope prayed that God might “grant rest to those who have lost their lives, the necessary assistance to those in need, and comfort to the families who have been affected.”

Pope Francis reads aloud a letter sent to him by a Ukrainian student to mark the 1,000th day of the war in the country. “When you speak of our thousand days of suffering,” the …

Palestine, Israel, Ukraine and Myanmar

In his greetings to Italian speakers, meanwhile, the Pope prayed for peace in war zones, as he does at almost every single General Audience.

“Let us pray for peace,” the Pope urged. “Let us not forget the people who suffer from war: Palestine, Israel, and all those who are suffering in Ukraine, in Myanmar”.

And, the Pope urged, “let us ask the Prince of Peace, the Lord, to give us this grace: peace, peace in the world. War, let us not forget, is always a defeat, always!”

Speaking to pilgrims from Poland, the Pope added an appeal to care for Ukrainian refugees in the country.

“On Christmas Eve”, Pope Francis said, “you will break oplatek – Christmas bread. May this gesture of charity, peace and forgiveness be an expression of an open heart to all those you meet on your path. Please continue to remember above all the poor, the lonely, the victims of the floods and our sisters and brothers from Ukraine.”