Pope prays for victims of a gang-related violence in Ecuador prison

By Francesca Merlo

After the recitation of the Angelus prayer on Sunday, Pope Francis turned his thoughts to the tragedy that occurred last week inside one of Ecuador's prisons.

"I am deeply saddened", said the Pope, by the "terrible outbreak of violence between inmates belonging to rival gangs". Over one hundred people have been killed and many more injured, he noted. 

"I pray for them and for their families", continued the Pope. He prayed that God may "help us to heal the wounds of crime that enslave the poorest, and to help those who work every day to make prison life more humane".

A battle between gangs in Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on Wednesday killed at least 116 people and injured 80 in what authorities are calling the worst penitentiary massacre in Ecuador’s history. At least five dead were reportedly beheaded, according to officials.