ROME — Pope Francis again condemned the “senseless calamity of war” Sunday, offering special prayers for the people of Ukraine.
“I entrust to the Blessed Virgin Mary the ardent desire for peace of the many people in various parts of the world who suffer the senseless calamity of war,” the pontiff told crowds gathered in Saint Peter’s Square.
“In particular, I present the sufferings and tears of the Ukrainian people to the Holy Virgin,” he said. “Before the madness of war, please, let us continue to pray the Rosary for peace each day.”
Francis also invoked prayers for the leaders of nations, “so that they might not lose the ‘pulse of the people’ who want peace and who know well that weapons never achieve it, never.”
Last Sunday Francis appealed to Catholics around the world to pray the rosary for peace every day during the month of May, the month dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
“I would like to invite all the faithful and communities to pray the Rosary for peace every day in May,” he said. “My thought goes to the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, ‘Mary’s city,’ barbarically bombed and destroyed. Once again, from here, I renew my request that safe humanitarian corridors be arranged for the people trapped in the steelworks in that city.”
“I suffer and weep, thinking of the sufferings of the Ukrainian people, and in particular, the weakest, the elderly and children,” he declared. “There are even terrible reports of children being expelled and deported.”
The Russian assault on Ukraine represents a “macabre regression of humanity,” Francis said, and makes him wonder whether “peace is truly being sought,” “whether there is the will to avoid a continued military and verbal escalation,” and “whether everything possible is being done to silence the weapons.”