VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis offered his condolences to the families of victims and to the entire nation following a deadly midair collision between a passenger plane and an Army helicopter near Washington. “I express my spiritual closeness to all those affected by this tragedy,” the pope said in a telegram sent Jan. 30 to U.S. President Donald Trump. “In commending the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of almighty God, I offer my deepest sympathies to the families who are now mourning the loss of a loved one,” the pope wrote. “I likewise pray for those involved in the recovery efforts, and invoke upon all in the nation the divine blessings of consolation and strength,” he wrote. An American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members flying from Kansas collided with a Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers while approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport for a landing around 9 p.m. local time Jan. 29. The wreckage plunged into the Potomac River, and search and rescue teams did not expect to find any survivors Jan. 30 given the frigid temperatures. Twenty-eight bodies had been recovered, including 27 from the plane and one from the Black Hawk helicopter as of early Jan. 30, according to officials. The Associated Press reported that passengers included a group of figure skaters, their coaches and family members returning from a training camp following the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.
Pope returns to Vatican after long hospitalization Immediately before leaving Rome’s Gemelli hospital after more than five weeks of treatment for breathing difficulties, double pneumonia and infections, Pope Francis greeted hundreds of people who gathered outside the hospital March 23.
Pope to return to Vatican, prescribed to continue rest, doctors announce Pope Francis will return to his residence in the Vatican March 23 after spending 38 days in Rome’s Gemelli hospital for treatment of double pneumonia, his doctors announced.
Pope’s doctors report more improvement, but no date for his release Pope Francis no longer needs the “noninvasive mechanical ventilation” he has used most nights since experiencing a breathing “crisis” Feb. 28, his doctors reported in a bulletin released by the Vatican press office March 19.