Pope evokes specter of Ukraine war sparking global conflict

VATICAN CITY – The specter of a worldwide battle spawned by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ought to persuade everybody that the time has come for humanity to abolish struggle earlier than it abolishes humanity, Pope Francis mentioned on Sunday.

“Greater than a month has handed for the reason that invasion of Ukraine, for the reason that begin of this merciless and mindless struggle, which, like each struggle, is a defeat for everybody, for all of us,” he mentioned to hundreds of individuals in St. Peter’s Sq. for his Sunday blessing.

“We should repudiate struggle, a spot of dying the place fathers and moms bury their youngsters, the place males kill their brothers with out even seeing them, the place the highly effective determine and the poor die,” he mentioned.

The struggle in Ukraine was destroying the nation’s future, he mentioned, citing a statistic that half of the nation’s youngsters needed to flee the nation.

“That’s the bestiality of struggle, one thing that’s barbarous and sacrilegious,” he mentioned, urging his listeners to not take into account struggle as inevitable or one thing to get used to.

“If we emerge from this (struggle) the identical as we had been earlier than, we are going to all be indirectly responsible. Confronted with the hazard of self-destruction, humanity should perceive that the time has come to abolish struggle, to cancel it from the historical past of man earlier than it cancels man from historical past,” he mentioned.

Since Russia invaded its neighbor on Feb. 24, Francis has a number of instances spoken of a doable nuclear battle.

“I encourage each politician concerned to mirror on this, to make a dedication, and, martyred Ukraine, to know that each day of struggle worsens the scenario for everybody,” he mentioned.

“Sufficient! Cease! Let the weapons fall silent. Negotiate critically for peace,” he mentioned.

Because the invasion, which Russia calls a “particular army operation” to demilitarise Ukraine, the pope has implicitly criticized Moscow, strongly condemning what he has known as an “unjustified aggression” and denouncing “atrocities.”

However he has used the phrase “Russia” solely in prayers, similar to throughout a particular international occasion for peace final Friday