Pope cries out: Stop the wars!

Reminding the faithful that these days mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, Pope Francis pointed to his predecessor at that time, Pope Benedict XV, who had termed the war “a useless war”. The Pope called on humanity not to repeat the mistakes of the past. In particular, he referred to three regions: the Middle East, Iraq and Ukraine, praying that “wisdom and force to carry forward the way to peace” might be granted the leaders there. He stressed that what is at stake is the common good and the respect for every individual rather than narrow interests. “Everything is lost in war, nothing is lost in peace,” he called out to a cheering crowd.

Abandoning his prepared text, the Pope, in a voice trembling with emotion said that he was thinking especially of the children, “dead children, wounded children, mutilated children, orphaned children…” Crying out, he said: “Stop, please, it is time to stop, please!”

View Sunday’s Angelus here