ROME — Pope Francis in an address Friday for the opening of the European Catholic Social Days condemned the “brutal violence” brought to bear on the population of Ukraine.
“The tragedy of the war that is taking place in the heart of Europe leaves us astonished,” the pontiff told the group gathered in the Vatican, adding that “we never thought we would see such scenes again, reminiscent of the great wars of the last century.”
“The heartbreaking cry for help of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters urges us as a community of believers not only to reflect seriously, but to cry with them and to do something for them,” he continued, “to share the anguish of a people whose identity, history and tradition have been wounded.”
“The blood and tears of children, the suffering of women and men who are defending their land or fleeing from bombs rattle our conscience,” Francis said. “Once again humanity is threatened by a perverse abuse of power and partisan interests, which condemns defenseless people to suffer all forms of brutal violence.”
Women and children sit on the floor of a corridor in a hospital in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine Friday, March 11, 2022 (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka).
As the war in Ukraine has intensified, the pope has left aside the diplomatic niceties that characterized his first comments on the Russian invasion to embrace wholesale support for the besieged Ukrainian nation.
In Friday’s address, Francis went on to thank his brother bishops for their “prompt and concerted response in coming to the aid of that population, guaranteeing it material aid, welcome and hospitality.”
“Let us not grow weary in this, and let us not cease to invoke peace from God and from men,” he said. “I therefore urge you to continue to pray that those who hold the fate of nations will leave no stone unturned to stop the war and open a constructive dialogue to put an end to the immense humanitarian tragedy it is causing.”
War “leaves our world worse than it was before and is a failure of politics and of humanity,” he declared, and a “shameful capitulation” to the forces of evil.
What is needed now is to “re-establish an architecture of peace at the global level, in which the European house, born to guarantee peace after the world wars, has a primary role,” he said.
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