Pope Francis called for peace in Ukraine “dragged into a cruel and senseless war”

Pope Francis today called for peace to come to Ukraine dragged “by a cruel and senseless war”, in his traditional Easter message, read from the balcony of the central lodge on the façade of St. Peter's Basilica before the Urbi et Orbi blessing.

After celebrating Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square in front of 50,000 people, the pope referred to the “unbelief” that we are trying with this “Easter of War”. Francisco regretted that after the pandemic it was time to go out hand in hand together. And he lamented: “However, we are showing that we still have in us the spirit of Cain, who looks at Abel not as a brother, but as a rival, and thinks about how to eliminate him.”

And his call was: “Let the peace of Christ enter into our lives, into our homes and in our countries!”

“May there be peace in the martyred Ukraine, so harshly tested by violence and the destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it has been dragged. May a new dawn of hope soon emerge on this terrible night of suffering and death,” he said.

“Let peace be chosen. Let people stop showing strength while people suffer,” said Jorge Bergoglio, looking out on the balcony where he presented himself to the world as pope on March 13, 2013.

And he begged: “Please, let us not get used to the war, let us all commit ourselves to asking for peace with a loud voice, from the balconies and in the streets.”

The pontiff also asked “for the leaders of nations to hear the people's cry for peace” and “to listen to that disturbing question that scientists asked themselves almost sixty years ago: Are we going to end the human race or should humanity renounce war?” , as stated in the Rusell-Einsten manifesto of 9 July 1955 that the two scientists made to demand disarmament in view of the nuclear danger arising from the Cold War.

The pontiff also mentioned “the many Ukrainian victims, the millions of refugees and internally displaced persons, the divided families, the elderly who have been left alone, the shattered lives and the destroyed cities”.

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