A crowd stormed the Capitol after US President Donald Trump called for a rally of supporters to go to the building and ‘fight like hell’ to protest his US loss in November’s presidential election, which according to him, without any factual basis, was ‘stolen’.
The riots left a Capitol police officer and four others dead.
“I offer a heartfelt greeting to the people of the United States, shaken by the recent siege of Congress,” the pope said in remarks about the pandemic from the Apostolic Palace, instead of from a window overlooking the Sint-Pietersplein. “I pray for those who lost their lives, five (persons) in those dramatic moments.”
“Nothing is obtained by force, and so much is lost,” he said.
“I urge the authorities of the state and the entire population to maintain a high sense of responsibility with the aim of calming souls, promoting national reconciliation and protecting the democratic values rooted in American society,” Francis said. .
He prayed to the Virgin Mary, the patron saint of the Church in the United States, to ‘keep alive’ the culture of meeting, the culture of caring, as the best way to build the common good with ‘all who’ in that country. ”
In separate comments on a private Italian TV network to be broadcast on Sunday night, Francis expressed his surprise at the mob’s attack. In the interview with Channel 5 of Mediaset, he said: “in the most mature reality there is always something that does not work, people who take a path against the community, against democracy and against the common welfare.”