(CNSNews.com) - In her telephone press briefing yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) repeated her endorsement of the worldwide prayer that Pope Francis has called for to “enlighten those responsible for the common good.”
In doing so, Pelosi mistakenly called it “the prayer of St. Francis” and then corrected herself by noting that it was from "Pope Francis."
Pelosi made her plea to people she said were celebrating Holy Week, Passover and Ramadan.
“Good day,” she said at the start of her briefing, “wherever you are in this Holy Week, Passover, approaching Easter Sunday and Ramadan, Ramadan, an appropriate time for us to more deeply pray for those who have lost their lives and whose families are suffering and those who are sick with this virus.”
She returned to the theme at the close of her briefing.
“As people of faith observe Passover and prepare their Easter and Ramadan, we pray with them for all who are weathering this threat, again, to their lives and livelihoods,” Pelosi said.
“And we pray for those entrusted with caring for them,” she said.
“This is the prayer of St. Francis--excuse me, I keep saying St. Francis--Pope Francis--St. Francis is the patron saint of my city of San Francisco,” she said.
“But Pope Francis, a couple of weeks ago, put forth this world prayer that said--that prayed--that God would enlighten those responsible for the common good so that they may know how to care for those entrusted to their response--their responsibility,” Pelosi said.
“Let us hope that we all can be--have hearts full of love to receive that enlightenment--all of us, for the good--for the common good as, as His Holiness references,” she said.
Here are transcripts of the parts of Speaker Pelosi’s press briefing where she called on people to pray:
“Good day, wherever you are in this Holy Week, Passover, approaching Easter Sunday and Ramadan, Ramadan, an appropriate time for us to more deeply pray for those who have lost their lives and whose families are suffering and those who are sick with this virus.”
…
“So, again, I'll close as I began: As people of faith observe Passover and prepare their Easter and Ramadan, we pray with them for all who are weathering this threat, again, to their lives and livelihoods. And we pray for those entrusted with caring for them. This is the prayer of St. Francis--excuse me, I keep saying St. Francis--Pope Francis--St. Francis is the patron saint of my city of San Francisco. But Pope Francis, a couple of weeks ago, put forth this world prayer that said--that prayed-- that God would enlighten those responsible for the common good so that they may know how to care for those entrusted to their response--their responsibility. Let us hope that we all can be--have hearts full of love to receive that enlightenment--all of us, for the good--for the common good as, as His Holiness references.”