"On the other side, pained by the immense suffering of the Ukrainian people following the aggression undergone, I direct a similarly trusting appeal to the president of Ukraine to be open to serious proposals of peace," Francis said. "My appeal is directed above all to the president of the Russian Federation, imploring him to stop, also for the love of his people, this spiral of violence and death," Francis said. "And what to say about the fact that humanity finds itself again faced with atomic threat? It's absurd," Francis said, who then called for an immediate cease-fire. "It's anguishing that the world is learning the geography of Ukraine through names like Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol, Izium, Zaporizhizhia and other places, that have become places of indescribable sufferings and fears," Francis said. But Putin sought to justify launching the invasion saying he needed to protect his country from what he called "Nazi" elements in Ukraine. "Certain actions can never be justified, never," the Pope said. "I am pained by the thousands of victims, in particular among the children, and by so much destruction, that leaves many persons and families homeless and threatens vast territories with cold and hunger," he said. "Rivers of blood and tears spilled these months torment me," the Pope said. "It, in fact, increases the risk of a nuclear escalation, to the point of fearing uncontrollable and catastrophic consequences on the world level." "I deplore strongly the grave situation created in the last days, with further actions contrary to the principles of international law," Francis said, in a clear reference to Putin's illegal annexation of a large swath of eastern Ukraine. "In fact, this terrible, inconceivable wound of humanity, instead of shrinking, continues to bleed even more, threatening to spread," the Pope said. "How the war is going in Ukraine has become so grave, devastating and threatening that it sparks great worry," Francis said. Peter's Square, that he was abandoning his usual religious theme for his Sunday noon remarks to concentrate his reflection on Ukraine. Complete coverage of the war in Ukraineįrancis told the public, gathered in St.The pontiff also called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to "be open" to serious peace proposals. It was the first time in public that he cited Putin's role in the war. Pope Francis on Sunday appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin for a cease-fire, imploring him to "stop this spiral of violence and death" in Ukraine and denouncing the "absurd" risk of the "uncontrollable" consequences of nuclear attack as tensions sharply escalate over the war.įrancis uttered his strongest plea yet about the seventh-month-old conflict, which he denounced as an "error and a horror."
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