The Holy Father said that his thoughts “go immediately to the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, “City of Mary”, “barbarously bombed and destroyed.” He renewed his call for “safe humanitarian corridors” to be established for people trapped in the city’s steelworks complex.
Pope Francis shared his distress at the situation n Ukraine, saying, “I suffer and weep, thinking of the suffering of the Ukrainian people and in particular of the weakest, the elderly and children. There are even terrible reports of children being expelled and deported.”
The Pope went on to ask the question as to whether there is really a will to avoid an ongoing military and verbal escalation, and if everything possible is being done to silence the weapons.
He appealed that we not give in to the logic of violence and the perverse spiral of armed conflict, saying, “Let us take the path of dialogue and peace! Let us pray.”
ENDS
