After the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters, more than a month has gone by since the beginning of
the invasion of Ukraine, since the beginning of this cruel and senseless war, that,
like every war, represents a defeat for every one, for everyone of us. We need to
reject war, a place of death where fathers and mothers bury their children, where
men kill their brothers and sisters without even having seen them, where the
powerful decide and the poor die.
War does not devastate the present only, but the future of a society as well. I read
that from the beginning of the aggression in Ukraine, one out of every two children
has been displaced from their country. This means destroying the future, causing
dramatic trauma in the lives of the smallest and most innocent among us. This is
the brutality of war — a barbaric and sacrilegious act!
War should not be something that is inevitable. We should not accustom ourselves
to war. Instead, we need to convert today’s indignation into tomorrow’s
commitment, because if we will emerge from these events, the way we were
before, we will all be guilty in some way. Faced with the danger of self-destruction,
may humanity understand that the moment has come to abolish war, to erase it
from human history, before it erases humans from history.
I pray that every political leader may reflect on this, to commit themselves to this!
And, looking on martyred Ukraine, to understand how each day of war worsens the
situation for everyone. Therefore, I renew my appeal: Enough. Stop. May weapons
be silenced. May peace be seriously pursued. Let us continue to pray untiringly to
the Queen of Peace, to whom we consecrated humanity, in particular Russia and
Ukraine, with such a huge and intense participation for which I thank all of you. Let
us pray together. Hail Mary… […].
