SHAFAQNA- Pope Francis called for peace and calm on Sunday, two days after assassination of Iranian Commander Lieutenant General Qasem Soleimani by the United States, which he did not mention.
“In many parts of the world there is a terrible air of tension”, the Pope said in his Jan. 5 noontime Angelus address, adding, “War brings only death and destruction.”
“I call on all parties to keep the flame of dialogue and self-control burning, and to ward off any shadow of enmity,” he said, according to cruxnow.
“We must believe that the other has our same need for peace. Peace cannot be achieved if it is not expected. Let us ask the Lord for the gift of peace!” He wrote in his Twitter, in nine languages (English, Arabic, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Latin, French, Portuguese and German), en24 reported.
Francis’ plea for peace followed the assassination of Lieutenant General Soleimani and the acting commander of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) – known as the Hash al-Shaabi – Abu Mahdi Al-Mohandes, in an American drone strike at Baghdad airport in Iraq early Friday.