ROME — Pope Francis renewed his call for a ceasefire in Ukraine Sunday, urging the warring parties to sit down to negotiations.
At Pentecost, “God’s dream for humanity becomes a reality,” the pontiff said following his Regina Caeli prayer in Saint Peter’s Square. “But now, after 100 days of armed aggression against Ukraine, the nightmare of war has fallen on humanity again, the denial of God’s dream.”
“And as the fury of destruction and death rages and contrasts flare up, fueling an ever more dangerous escalation for all, I renew my appeal to the leaders of nations: please, do not bring humanity to ruin!” the pope exhorted.
“Real negotiations must be put in place, concrete negotiations for a ceasefire and for a sustainable solution,” he added. “Human life be respected.”
“Listen to the desperate cry of the suffering people,” he continued, and “have respect for human life.”
“Stop the macabre destruction of towns and villages in the east of Ukraine,” he urged. “Let us continue, please, to pray and to commit ourselves for peace, without tiring.”
The pope’s words followed his Mass for the feast of Pentecost, when Christians celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles after Christ’s ascension into heaven.
During his homily at Mass, Francis said that the Holy Spirit “corrects you; he makes you weep for your sins; he pushes you to change, to fight against your lies and deceptions, even when that calls for hard work, interior struggle and sacrifice.”
“The evil spirit, on the contrary, pushes you to do always what you want, what you find pleasing,” he said. “He makes you think that you have the right to use your freedom any way you want. Then, once you are left feeling empty inside… then he blames you and casts you down.”
The devil promotes “bitterness, pessimism, and negativity,” he said, stoking “impatience and self-pity.”
“Complaining is the language of the evil spirit; he wants to make you complain, to be gloomy, to put on a funeral face,” he said, whereas the Holy Spirit “urges us never to lose heart and always to start over again.”

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