Vatican City, 24 November 2013 (VIS) - Following the closing Mass of the Year of Faith, Pope Francis prayed the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.

"Before concluding this celebration", he said, "I would like to greet all the pilgrims, families, parish groups, associations and movements who have come here from many countries. I greet the participants in the National Congress of Mercy and the Ukrainian community, which commemorates the eightieth anniversary of the Holodomor, the great famine provoked by the Soviet regime, which claimed millions of victims".

"On this day we also give thanks to the missionaries who, throughout the centuries, have proclaimed the Gospel and sown the seed of faith in many parts of the world, and among them Blessed Junipero Serra, the Spanish Franciscan missionary, the third centenary of whose birth we celebrate today.