SHAFAQNA– In his Easter Sunday address , pope Francis called for peace in Ukraine. “May there be peace for war-torn Ukraine, so sorely tried by the violence and destruction of this cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged,” Francis said, speaking from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Square. “Please, please, let us not get used to war,” Francis pleaded, after denouncing “the flexing of muscles while people are suffering.” Yet again, the pontiff decried the war in Ukraine.
The Pope said he holds in his heart the victims, the millions of refugees, the orphaned children, and the elderly left to themselves. We hear especially the cry of the children, he said, together with suffering children around the world who are victims of violence, the right to be born, hunger or lack of medical care.
He appealed for leaders to hear the cry of their suffering and to make decisions in favour of peace. May peace and reconciliation take root among all people and communities in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen, the Pope mentioned, where despite ongoing conflicts people ardently hope for an end to the violence, tensions and profound suffering as a result.
Source: npr, Vatican News