Pope Francis gives powerful advice to grieving families and victims of tragedy

'From the first moment, I felt that I needed to come to you!'

Pope Francis stood before a special audience at the Vatican's Paul VI hall to share an important message.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Speaking directly to survivors of Italy's massive 2016 earthquakes, the pontiff described how to cope with their broken hearts.

"It is not optimism, there is no place for optimism," his Holiness admitted. "Yes, for hope but [not for] optimism, which is momentary; it isn't sustainable. In order to rebuild, you need hope."

According to Vatican Radio, Pope Francis met with hundreds of Italians from the Archdiocese of Spoleto-Norcia, which has repeatedly been attacked by earthquakes for the past half year.

Amatrice and the surrounding areas were hit by a deadly 6.3 magnitude earthquake in August, killing nearly 300 people.

Roughly 800 survivors followed Bishop Renato Boccardo and other, local, civic authorities and traveled to the Vatican.

Most have lost their homes, their families, friends, and their livelihoods but still, they flocked to the heart of Rome to listen to the Pope's words of hope.

The pontiff spoke of the significant wounds that come with losing a loved one and shared how important it is to grieve together and find a way to heal as a group.

He mentioned the healing hands of doctors, nurses, firemen and other first responders who helped rescue survivors and treat the wounded.

The most important theme of the day was solidarity.

"Each one of you has suffered something," Pope Francis stated. "Some have lost a lot - children, parents, spouse. Silence, caresses, the tenderness of the heart helps."

He continued, speaking of the earthquakes and the spirit of solidarity required to pull one another up from the nightmare. The Pope shared the importance of finding the courage to dream again and how that courage and the closeness they share as a group will make the task less daunting.

He thanked the survivors, clergy and volunteers "who have taken part in your pain," adding: "Thank you for all that you've done to help each other in rebuilding hearts, homes, the social fabric and, with your example," repairing the selfishness in the hearts of those who haven't suffered this same pain.

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