Department for External Church Relations
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Archbishop Nestor of Madrid and Lisbon attends ceremony in memory of coronavirus victims held at Royal Palace of Madrid
On 16th July 2020, a ceremony in memory of those who died in the coronavirus epidemic took place in the square outside the Royal Palace of Madrid.
King Felipe VI of Spain, his spouse Queen Letizia, and their daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia, were the first to lay white roses on a black pedestal surrounding a bowl of burning coals in the centre of the square.
Among those who paid tribute to the victims of COVID-19 were all members of the Spanish government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, all heads of the Autonomous Communities of Spain, and leaders of the largest political parties in the country.
Besides, the ceremony was attended by Mr. Charles Michel, President of the European Council; Ms. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission; Mr. Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; Mr. David Sassoli, President of the European Parliament; Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General; and Mr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization.
At the invitation of the King of Spain, Archbishop Nestor of Madrid and Lisbon also attended the ceremony.
The tribute was paid to all those who helped combat the pandemic – first of all, medical personnel, and also transport workers, policemen, members of the Civil Guard, shop assistants – who continued to work throughout the hard months of the pandemic.
Spain is one of the European countries most affected by the pandemic, with 256 thousand cases of infection reported. Yet, the results of the antibody test carried out by Spain’s Ministry of Health show that 2,3 million people, i.e. 5,2% of the population, had the disease. The official estimate is that 28,4 thousand people died from the coronavirus.
Official website of the Russian Orthodox Church
based on the information from the websites of the diocese of Spain and Portugal,
RIA Novosti news agency, and Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper
Photo: El Pais
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