Vatican City, Feb 18, 2022 / 06:00 am
Pope Francis offered his “heartfelt condolences” on Friday after a Spanish fishing boat sank off the coast of Canada, leaving at least 10 people dead.
The pope sent a telegram of condolence on Feb. 18 after the Villa de Pitanxo, a boat from Spain’s northwestern Galicia region, went down on Feb. 15 in rough seas 280 miles from the Newfoundland coast.
AFP reported on Feb. 16 that 10 of the 24 crew members were confirmed dead, three rescued from a life raft, and 11 unaccounted for. The crew consisted of 16 Spaniards, five Peruvians, and three Ghanaians.
“Upon hearing the sad news of the sinking of the fishing boat Villa de Pitanxo, which occurred on Feb. 15, off the coast of Canada, and in which several people lost their lives, the Holy Father expresses his heartfelt condolences, as well as his solidarity, in these moments of sorrow,” said the telegram, which was sent on the pope’s behalf by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin to Archbishop Julián Barrio Barrio of Santiago de Compostela.