Argentina in mourning after Pope loses three relatives in car accident
Pope Francis has expressed thanks to those all who are praying and have sent condolences after the tragic accident in Argentina on Tuesday in which three members of his family were killed. The wife of the Pope’s nephew and their two young children aged two years and eight months died in the car accident in Cordoba. Pope Francis' nephew, Emanuel Horacio Bergoglio, was seriously injured.
Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner telephoned the Holy Father on Wednesday to convey her personal sorrow and that of the Argentinian people for the pontiff’s tragic loss.
During his general audience on Wednesday Pope Francis thanked people for their prayers. After each of the priests who translate the Pope’s words offered him condolences for the tragedy that struck his family, Pope Francis told pilgrims in St Peter's Square: “The Pope has a family, too. We were five siblings, and I have 16 nieces and nephews.
"One of these nephews was in an accident. His wife died along with his two small children — one who was two years old and the other several months."
The Pope said that after the crash in the early morning hours his 35-year-old nephew, Emanuel Horacio Bergoglio, “is in critical condition right now. I thank you, I thank you very much, for your condolences and prayers.”