Pope Francis asked for peace for martyred Ukraine in his Easter Message delivered before imparting the Urbi et Orbi blessing to 100,000 people gathered around the Vatican.
“May there be peace in martyred Ukraine, so harshly tested by the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war to which it has been dragged,” said the Holy Father from the central balcony of the facade of the Basilica of San Pedro del Vatican.
After celebrating Mass on Easter Sunday and traveling with the popemobile to greet the thousands of faithful gathered in Saint Peter’s Square and the Via de la Conciliación, the Pontiff delivered his important Easter Message.
Referring to the current war in Ukraine, the Pope asked that “a new dawn of hope break soon on this terrible night of suffering and death.”
“Let peace be chosen. Stop making shows of force while people suffer. Please, please, let’s not get used to war, let’s all commit ourselves to ask for peace with a powerful voice, from the balconies and in the streets, peace, ”he exhorted.
The Holy Father then said “I carry in my heart the numerous Ukrainian victims, the millions of refugees and internally displaced persons, the divided families, the elderly who have been left alone, the shattered lives, and the devastated cities. I have before my eyes the look of the children who were orphaned and fled from the war”.
“Let those responsible for nations listen to the people’s cry for peace, let them listen to that disturbing question that scientists asked themselves almost sixty years ago: ‘Are we going to put an end to the human race? or should humanity renounce war?’”, the Pope indicated, citing the “Russell-Einstein Manifesto” of July 9, 1955.