Pope evokes spectre of Ukraine war sparking global conflict

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – 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 because the invasion of Ukraine, because the 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 resolve 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 have been earlier than, we are going to all be not directly 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 neighbour on Feb. 24, Francis has a number of occasions spoken of a potential nuclear battle.

“I encourage each politician concerned to replicate on this, to make a dedication, and, taking a look at martyred Ukraine, to know that on daily basis of struggle worsens the scenario for everybody,” he mentioned.

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

For the reason that invasion, which Russia calls a “particular navy operation” to demilitarise Ukraine, the pope has implicitly criticised Moscow, strongly condemning what he has known as an “unjustified aggression” and denouncing “atrocities.”

However he has used the phrase “Russia” solely in prayers, reminiscent of throughout a particular world occasion for peace final Friday

(Reporting by Philip Pullella;Modifying by Elaine Hardcastle)