ROME — Pope Francis sent his “heartfelt condolences” Friday to the families of the victims of a shipwreck that occurred off the coast of Canada, leaving several dead.
“Upon hearing the sad news of the sinking of the fishing boat Villa de Pitanxo, which occurred on 15 February, off the coast of Canada, and in which several people lost their lives,” reads a telegram Friday from the Vatican secretary of state. “The Holy Father expresses his heartfelt condolences, as well as his solidarity, in these moments of sorrow.”
The pope “prays to God for the eternal repose of the victims and expresses his closeness to the families who mourn their loved ones,” the text states. “He also commends to the mercy of the Lord and to the maternal care of the Mother of God the people affected by this tragedy, while imparting the apostolic blessing, as a pledge of the constant help of the Almighty and as a sign of sure hope in the resurrection.”
The Galicia-based trawler Villa de Pitanxo sank early Tuesday some 250 miles off the coast of Newfoundland with just three known survivors out of a crew of 24, making the disaster Spain’s worst fishing tragedy in 38 years.
This undated photo provided by the Spanish government ministry of Agriculture, Fishery and Food shows the Spanish ‘Villa de Pitanxo’ fishing boat (Agriculture, Fishery and Food Ministry via AP).
Current theories suggest that the ship, which was loaded with a good catch of halibut, was weighed down at the stern and, complicated by waves reaching eight meters in height, was flooded and sank in a matter of minutes.
Although the ship was equipped with special anti-thermal rescue suits for ice-cold waters, there was no time to put them on, and the violence of the sea itself precluded this sort of rescue, reports contend.
On Wednesday, the Galician Government decreed three days of official mourning for the crew of the Villa de Pitanxo during an extraordinary session of the Council of the Xunta. An institutional declaration was also approved to express the shock suffered by the whole of Galician society in the face of this event and announce that the families of the victims “are not and will not be without protection.”
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