The embrace was coming from the heart of Rome when Monsignor Giacomo Martinelli addressed 5,000 faithful in the sports hall of Varese 55 kilometers north of Milan, Italy, on Sunday.
Monsignor Martinelli is director of the Pontifical Academy of the Immaculate and has served as the Pope’s chaplain since 1997, his history with the Diocese of Rome dating back to 1994.“The apparitions of Our Lady Immaculate in Medjugorje are an opportunity that God gives today’s disoriented man, and the arrival of hope, a chance to resume their journey of faith for the people in a country that unfortunately was left with serious social and familial consequences of human failings” Monsignor Martinelli said with a reference to the Bosnian war, according to local news agency Varese News.The prayer meeting in Lombardia lasted all day, and was attended by Medjugorje visionary Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti whose apparition lasted about 10 minutes, the Milan-based national newspaper Il Giorno reports. This makes it a long apparition for Marija with whom 3 minutes apparitions are not unusual.