All photos: L'Osservatore Romano
Archduchess Marie-Astrid, older sister of the Grand Duke, and her husband Archduke Carl-Christian were among some 300 members of the Habsburg family who were received in audience by Pope Francis yesterday. They were most likely accompanied by their children though there are only pictures of their son-in-law Count Rodolphe de Limburg-Stirum and grandson Count Constantin; Archduke Imre and Archduchess Kathleen with their daughters Maria-Stella and Magdalena; as well as their daughter-in-law Archduchess Adélaïde and their granddaughter Katarina thus far.
The Habsburgs made a family pilgrimage to the Vatican on the occasion of the Jubilee of Mercy. “In this happy circumstance, you also remember in a special way Blessed
Charles of Austria, who precisely one hundred years ago acceded to the
throne. His spiritual presence in your midst ensures that the Habsburg
family today does not turn to the past in a nostalgic manner but, on the
contrary, is actively present in the current moment, with its
challenges and its needs. Indeed, some of you hold prominent roles in
organisations of solidarity and human and cultural development; as well
as in support of the project of Europe as a common home founded on human
and Christian values”, the Pope said.
“Charles of Austria was first and foremost a good family father, and as
such, a servant of life and peace”, he continued speaking about the last ruler of the Austro-Hungarian empire who was beatified in 2004. “He had known war,
having served as a simple soldier at the beginning of the First World
War. Assuming his reign in 1916, and sensitive to the voice of Pope
Benedict XV, he did his utmost to promote peace, at the cost of being
misunderstood and ridiculed. In this too he offers us an example, more
relevant than ever, and we can invoke him as an intercessor to obtain
from God peace for humanity”.
More pictures by the Vatican press agency here.
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