Pope Francis called for an “Easter truce” in Ukraine to negotiate for peace

Pope Francis called for an “Easter truce” in Ukraine “to achieve peace through real negotiations”, after celebrating Mass on Palm Sunday that marked the return of thousands of faithful with their palms to St. Peter's Square after the pandemic.

“Let an Easter truce begin, but not to reload weapons and resume combat. No. A truce to achieve peace through real negotiations”, declared the pontiff, after having held the ceremony in St. Peter's Square.

In his homily, the Catholic leader denounced the “madness of war” in a “violent and wounded world” and lamented the use of violence in remembering the martyrdom of Jesus of Nazareth: “When violence is used we no longer know anything about God, who is Father, nor of others, that they are brothers,” he warned.

“We forget why we are in the world and we come to commit absurd cruelties. We see it in the madness of war, where Christ is crucified again,” he denounced. He continued: “He is crucified in refugees fleeing bombs with children in their arms. He is crucified in the elderly who are abandoned to death, in young people deprived of the future, in soldiers sent to kill their brothers.”

In his homily, Francis did not explicitly allude to the war in Ukraine, as he has been doing insistently since the invasion broke out on February 24, but he did again demonstrate his concern for a world “wounded” by conflict.

And he made it clear that it will be the theme that focuses on this Holy Week: “Courage, let us walk to Easter with his forgiveness. For Christ continually intercedes before the Father for us and, looking at our violent and wounded world, he never tires of repeating: 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing'”, he finished.

The Palm Sunday rite, which commemorates Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and opens Holy Week, is one of the most beloved by the faithful and began with the procession of the palms in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican and before thousands of people, which had not happened since 2019 due to the pandemic.

Francis, suffering from a knee problem that makes it difficult for him to walk, blessed his palms from an altar at the door of the basilica and not from the obelisk in the center of the square, as in previous years, nor did he continue in the procession with the faithful and the clergy.

In fact he read his homily sitting down and was not even seen walking, but a car took him directly to the altar that had been installed at the foot of the basilica.

(With information from EFE)

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