© AFP
LPope Francis on Sunday called on leaders to “hear the people’s cry for peace” in this “Easter of war”, again referring to theUkraine “martyred”.
“We have seen too much blood, too much violence (…) Let’s stop showing the muscles while people are suffering”, launched the sovereign pontiff during his traditional blessing “Urbi et Orbi”, in front of some 50,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square in Rome.
“Please don’t get used to war, let’s all commit to asking for peace (..) Let those who have the responsibility of the Nations hear the people’s cry for peace”, he urged , prompting applause from the crowd.
The spiritual leader of the 1.3 billion Catholics insisted at length on the need for peace for “martyred Ukraine, so hard tried by the violence and the destruction of the cruel and senseless war in which it was dragged” with the Russian invasion which began on February 24.
The pontiff said he was thinking of the “many Ukrainian victims”, citing “the millions of refugees and internally displaced people, families divided, elderly people left alone, lives shattered and cities razed to the ground.” “I have in my eyes the look of children who have become orphans,” he added.
He, however, hailed “encouraging signs” such as “open doors of many families and communities hosting migrants and refugees across the country.Europe“, seeing in it “a blessing for our societies, sometimes degraded by so much selfishness and individualism”.
After devoting a large part of his message to this conflict, the pope gave his traditional overview of the conflicts in the world, evoking in turn the Libyale Yemenl’AfghanistanEthiopia, Burma or even the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where he is due to go in early July.
Before this blessing, the 85-year-old pope, who appeared diminished by his knee pain in recent days, enjoyed a long walkabout with pilgrims from all over the world aboard his “Papamobile” in the aisles of the Saint Square. -Rock.
04/17/2022 16:43:15 – Vatican City (AFP) – © 2022 AFP