Vatican City, Jul 15, 2016 / 01:52 am
Updated July 15, 2016, at 12:23 local time to include a letter from the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, His Excellency André Marceau, Bishop of Nice.
After a truck plowed through crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the French city of Nice, killing 84, Pope Francis voiced his sorrow for the act of "blind violence," and assured the French people of his prayers.
In a July 15 letter signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Pope expressed "his deep sorrow and spiritual closeness to the French people," entrusting the dead to God's mercy and uniting himself in the pain of grieving families.
He offered his sympathy to the wounded and to rescuers, praying that the Lord "sustain each one in the event" and grant "the gift of peace and harmony" to the grieving and to the entire French nation.