ROME — Pope Francis renewed his appeal for an end to war Sunday, condemning the “bestiality” of the Russian war on Ukraine.
“More than a month has passed since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, since the beginning of this cruel and senseless war which, like any war, represents a defeat for all, for all of us,” the pontiff told the 30,000 pilgrims gathered in the Vatican for his weekly Angelus address.
“There is a need to repudiate war, a place of death where fathers and mothers bury their children, where men kill their brothers without even having seen them, where the powerful decide and the poor die,” he added.
While the pope has never called out Russia by name, his rhetoric in denouncing the war on Ukraine has grown progressively stronger.
“War not only devastates the present but also the future of a society. I have read that one in two children have been displaced from the country since the start of the attack on Ukraine,” he said.
Onlookers hold a rainbow flag, a peace banner and a photomontage sign as Pope Francis speaks to the crowd during his Angelus prayer from the window of the apostolic palace overlooking St Peter’s Square at the Vatican, on March 27, 2022. (VINCENZO PINTO/AFP via Getty Images)
“This means destroying the future, causing dramatic trauma in the smallest and most innocent of us. Here is the bestiality of war, a barbaric and sacrilegious act!” he inveighed.
Francis went on to insist that war cannot be “something inevitable” and humanity must never grow used to armed conflict. “Instead, we must convert today’s indignation into tomorrow’s commitment” because, if we come out of this experience as we were before, “we will all be guilty in some way.”
“Faced with the danger of self-destruction, humanity understands that the time has come to abolish war, to erase it from human history before it is she who erases man from history,” he exhorted.
“I pray for every political leader to reflect on this, to commit to this! And, looking at the tormented Ukraine, to understand that every day of war the situation worsens for everyone,” he continued.
“Therefore, I renew my appeal: enough, stop, let it cease, let us negotiate seriously for peace!” he concluded, before praying a Hail Mary aloud with those present in Saint Peter’s Square for peace in Ukraine.
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