Pope Francis urged Moscow and Kiev to agree on a ceasefire ahead of Easter, in the hope that the ceasefire will lead to peace negotiations in Ukraine.
"Lay down your arms!" he said at the end of the Palm Sunday mass before tens of thousands of faithful in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City.
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"Let's start a truce for Easter. But not to rearm and start fighting again, but to achieve peace through real negotiations," the Pope said.
The two sides have held rounds of peace talks in Belarus since the war broke out in February, but so far the delegations have been unable to agree on a ceasefire.
It was the first time after two years of pandemic that Pope Francis met the faithful in St Peter's Square again.[/B] At the pontiff's side during the Mass were 35 cardinals, 30 Catholic bishops and 280 ordinary priests.
Francis wanted to emphasize once again the tragic developments of the war in Ukraine.
"When someone resorts to violence, he no longer knows anything about God - who is Father - nor about our fellow human beings, who are brothers and sisters. He forgets why he is in the world and commits unimaginable atrocities. We see this today in the madness of war, in which Christ is once again crucified," the pontiff said."
"Christ is once again crucified on the cross when mothers mourn the unjust loss of their husbands and children. He is crucified when refugees try to run for their lives from the bombs, with their children in their arms. It is crucified when the elderly are abandoned alone and die, young people lose their future, soldiers are sent to kill their brothers and sisters," Francis said, addressing the thousands of faithful who filled St. Peter's Square.
Source: skai.gr
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