Pope Francis sends message to families of victims in Germanwings' French Alps crash, as black box and cockpit recorder recovered

150 people were killed in the tragic Germanwings A320 Airbus crash in the snowy French Alps earlier this week. Pope Francis has come forward with some words of comfort for all those involved in the horrific accident.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Pope Francis wishes to give "strength and consolation" to all the family members of the victims.

The Airbus held 150 people, "including many children," according to a telegram from Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. More than a dozen passengers were German school children returning home from an exchange student program in Spain, according to TIME.

Earlier reports reveal two unnamed Americans were on board, as well as two babies.

Join Pope Francis in praying for the families of the victims --

"He [Pope Francis] expresses his deep sympathy for all those touched by this tragedy, as well as for the rescue workers working in difficult conditions," states the telegram. "He prays for peace for the deceased, entrusting them to the mercy of God that He might welcome them into His dwelling place of peace and light."

One of airplane's "black boxes" were recovered and investigators in France are examining it with hopes of learning exactly what brought that plane down.

The cockpit voice recorder from the plane has also been recovered, but is severely damaged. However, it has been noted the recorder may still be useable, after it is reconstituted.

This recorder will provide key information and vital clues about the condition of the pilots during the final minutes.

The airplane was less than an hour away from finishing its flight to Dusseldorf from Barcelona when it unexpectedly plummeted to the ground, dropping 14,000 feet in six minutes and losing contact with air traffic controllers, according to Fox News.

"If there's a loss of control, pilots usually lose their way too," Roger Rousseau told the Journal. "That didn't happen in this case."

"We cannot say at the moment why our colleague went into the descent, and so quickly, and without previously consulting air traffic control," Germanwings' director of flight operations, Stefan-Kenan Scheib, said Tuesday.

Emergency workers are continuing the grim search for bodies and other helpful elements to the investigation.

Here's the full statement from the Vatican telegram via Vatican Radio:

"Having learned of the tragic plane crash in the region of Digne, which caused many casualties, including many children, His Holiness Pope Francis joins in the grief of the families, expressing his closeness to them in sorrow. He prays for peace for the deceased, entrusting them to the mercy of God that He might welcome them into His dwelling place of peace and light. He expresses his deep sympathy for all those touched by this tragedy, as well as for the rescue workers working in difficult conditions. The Holy Father asks the Lord to give strength and consolation to all, and, as a comfort, he invokes upon them the abundance of divine Blessings."

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