VATICAN: On the occasion of his Christmas message, the Pope regretted the number of conflicts and tensions in the world
A message of peace for Christmas. This Sunday, on the occasion of his message sent from the Vatican, Pope Francis called for “silencing the guns” in Ukraine, in the grip of a “senseless war”. “May our gaze be filled with the faces of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters who live this Christmas in the dark, in the cold, or far from home, because of the destruction caused by ten months of war”, declared the Argentine pope, in front of thousands of worshipers, massed in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, some of whom were waving Ukrainian flags.
“May the Lord make us ready for concrete gestures of solidarity to help those who are suffering, and may he enlighten the minds of those who have the power to silence the guns and put an immediate end to this senseless war!” said the pontiff, who has tirelessly pleaded for peace since Moscow invaded the country in February.
“Third World War”
Before pronouncing the benediction “Urbi et Orbi” (“to the city and to the world”), the pope delivered as usual an overview of the conflicts in the world, citing ten countries affected by the violence or the tensions, which he described as “theaters of this Third World War”.
Among them, Afghanistan, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Yemen, Syria, Myanmar, but also Lebanon, in the grip of an unprecedented economic and social crisis, and Haiti, where more than 1,400 people were killed in the violence this year according to the UN.
He also urged not to use food “as a weapon”, particularly in reference to the conflicts affecting the Horn of Africa. “Any war causes hunger and uses food itself as a weapon, preventing its distribution to people who are already suffering”, lamented the Argentinian Jesuit, inviting people to commit themselves “so that food is only an instrument of peace. »
