CNS STORY: Pope offers prayers for victims of plane crash in Madrid

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CNS Story:

POPE-SPAIN Aug-21-2008 (130 words) xxxi

Pope offers prayers for victims of plane crash in Madrid

By Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI offered his condolences and prayers for the victims of the Aug. 20 crash of a Spanish airliner in Madrid.

The Spanair plane, on its way to the Canary Islands, veered off the runway and burst into flames, killing 153 of the 172 people on board.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, conveyed the pope's sadness and concern in a telegram to Cardinal Antonio Rouco Varela of Madrid.

The pope, he said, was offering fervent prayers for the deceased and their families and asked Cardinal Rouco to assure the injured that the pope was praying for their "full and speedy recovery."

"At this moment of sadness," Cardinal Bertone said, the pope offered his apostolic blessing "as a sign of comfort and of hope in the risen Lord."

END

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