Rouco Varela, who presided over the Funeral Eucharist for the deceased in the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid, which was attended by Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain, the President of the Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and the head of the Government of the Canary Islands, Paulino Rivero, addressed the relatives of the victims to console them and acknowledge that they bear "a heavy cross", a "guarantee of Life without sunset for your loved ones".
Among those attending the Funeral Eucharist were relatives of many of the 79 deceased from the Canary Islands who were traveling on the flight that crashed in Barajas, as well as several mayors from Gran Canaria and other representatives of the State. The owner company of the crashed aircraft, Spanair, has paid for the travel and accommodation expenses of all those who wanted to be present this afternoon at the Almudena Cathedral. Rouco Varela also addressed them in his Homily, reminding them that the "time to pray for our deceased brothers never passes, much less when the circumstances have been so painful and so humanly tragic as in your case".
The Cardinal-Archbishop of Madrid encouraged the relatives to have faith in Jesus Christ Resurrected who "impels us to practice fraternal love with our deceased brothers and with you in the daily life of an existence that you must straighten out with the strength of spirit that is capable of overcoming pain, the feeling of loneliness and the temptation not to want to face the new, multiple and difficult personal and family challenges that you now face".
Rouco Varela ended his Homily by reminding everyone of "the love of the seriously injured mother who gives her life in exchange for that of her eleven-year-old daughter, asking those who were helping her to save her daughter first." Representatives of other religious denominations were also present at the event.
ACN Press
