Pope Francis pleas for end to ‘icy winds of war’ in Ukraine in Christmas message – National | 24CA News
Pope Francis used his Christmas message Sunday to lament the “icy winds of war” buffeting humanity and to make an impassioned plea for a right away finish to the preventing in Ukraine, a 10-month-old battle he decried as “senseless.”
At midday in Rome, Francis delivered the normal “Urbi et Orbi” (Latin for “’to the city and to the world”) speech from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.
On a sunny day, with the noon temperature reaching about 15 levels Celsius, heat for a Roman winter, some 70,000 vacationers, pilgrims and residents of town packed St. Peter’s Square to take heed to the pontiff and to obtain his blessing.
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Francis additionally cited long-running conflicts within the Middle East, together with within the Holy Land, “where in recent months violence and confrontations have increased, bringing death and injury in their wake.” In addition, he prayed for an enduring truce in Yemen and for reconciliation in Iran and Myanmar, and cited violence and conflicts in Africa’s Sahel area.
He lamented that on Christmas, the “path of peace” is blocked by social forces that embody “attachment to power and money, pride, hypocrisy, falsehood.”
“Indeed, we must acknowledge with sorrow that, even as the Prince of Peace is given to us, the icy winds of war continue to buffet humanity,” Francis mentioned.
“If we want it to be Christmas, the birth of Jesus and of peace, let us look to Bethlehem and contemplate the face of the child who is born for us,” he mentioned. ”And in that small and harmless face, allow us to see the faces of all these youngsters who, in every single place on the earth, lengthy for peace.“
Francis urged the devoted to recollect the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who had been with out electrical energy or heating Sunday due to Russian assaults on power infrastructure, in addition to the hundreds of thousands extra dwelling as refugees overseas or displaced inside their nation for the reason that Feb. 24 invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Let us also see the faces of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, who are experiencing this Christmas in the dark and cold, far from their homes due to the devastation caused by 10 months of war,” the pontiff mentioned as he gestured towards these within the crowd waving small Ukrainian flags.
The pope prayed that the Lord will “enlighten the minds of those who have the power to silence the thunder of weapons and put an immediate end to this senseless war!”’
Hobbled by a knee drawback, Francis leaned on a strolling keep on with a pronged help base to inch ahead for a greater view of the gang beneath.
The first pontiff from Latin America, he prayed that Christmas would “inspire the political authorities and all people of good will in the Americas to attempt to calm the political and social tensions experienced by various countries.”
Francis mentioned he was notably pondering of Haiti, the impoverished Caribbean nation the place practically 100,000 individuals within the capital have fled gang-related violence, in response to a latest United Nations migration company report.
“On this day, as we sit around a well-spread table, may we not avert our gaze from Bethlehem, a town whose name means `house of bread,’ but think of all those, especially the children, who go hungry while huge amounts of food daily go to waste and resources are being spent on weapons.”
“The war in Ukraine has further aggravated this situation, putting entire peoples at risk of famine, especially in Afghanistan and in the countries of the Horn of Africa,” Francis mentioned.
Early within the battle, sea mines and a Russian naval blockade of Ukraine’s ports choked off shipments from the Black Sea ports of Ukraine, one of many world’s largest producers of grain and corn. An settlement brokered by Turkey and the U.N. has sought to deal with the issue.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
