Tens of thousands of Romanians converged on a mud-strewn hillside to celebrate Mass with Pope Francis June 1, braving heavy rain that forced changes to the itinerary for the pontiff's visit to the picturesque Transylvania region on his second day in the country.

Gathered with umbrellas and ponchos against the backdrop of the densely wooded Carpathian Mountains, the Romanians listened quietly as the pope urged in his homily that they not listen to people wanting to "provoke division" among them, but instead "live together as brothers and sisters."

After Christ rose from the dead and before he ascended to heaven, he made different appearances to certain of his followers and “spoke of the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). Many of us would love to have the manuscripts from those discourses.

True stories of hearts changed and guided through Marian devotion and how the Blessed Mother is the builder of better lives.

The following is the text of the Message of the Holy Father Francis for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2019, to be held this coming September 29, on the theme: “It is not just about migrants”:

Message of the Holy Father

It is not just about migrants

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

WHY OUR LADY OF FATIMA STATUES ARE SOMETIMES DEPICTED WITH THREE DOVES?

News headlines of late have been dominated by rumblings between the United States and Iran, capped by President Donald Trump taking to Twitter to state emphatically, “If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran.”

In such moments of global tension, the Vatican typically aspires to play the role of a reconciler and peacemaker. Should they wish to get involved now, they would find themselves straddling a conflict between a Western, majority-Christian nation on one side, and a Middle Eastern majority-Muslim state on the other.

Perhaps there is no prayer uttered more often by Christians than the Our Father. And there is good reason for this frequency, because Jesus himself taught it to his disciples when they asked him how they were to pray (see Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4).

From the early days of the church, the Lord's Prayer has occupied a special place in the life of Christians. The second-century Didache, one of the earliest Christian documents outside the New Testament, commanded that the Our Father should be said by Christians three times a day.

Pope Francis is set to visit his third Eastern Orthodox-majority country in the space of a month at the beginning of June, traveling to Romania just weeks after visiting Bulgaria and North Macedonia.

Beyond its ecumenical dimension, the May 31-June 2 voyage will also have the pontiff spend time with a diverse minority Catholic community, which is split between a primarily immigrant Latin rite population and the Romanian Greek Catholic Church.

In the ancient world, people were identified by their city, economic status, gender, and social class. Crossing these various boundaries was nearly impossible. People were boxed in and determined by factors beyond their control.

The Christian community, however, was a shining exception.

Today is independence day for Israelis. For the Palestinians it is the nakba day, the day of the catastrophe. 71 years ago. A catastrophe that is not yet over. The war that began in 1948 between Israel and the Palestinians is not yet over. Still the same hostility. Despite that, hope remained through generations. Life will come again.

After 71 years it is time for the war to stop and for the hostility to end.