Pope: “Those with decisional power in conflicts should not ignore the universal desire for peace”
At the Angelus in St. Peter's Square, Poe Leo XIV points to the example of Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have signed an agreement to end a long conflict. ‘The 80 years since Hiroshima and Nagasaki should reawaken the rejection of war as a solution.’ ‘Works of mercy are the safest bank for our existence’
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Those who make decisions about conflicts ‘should always keep in mind their responsibility for the consequences of their choices on the people. They should not ignore the needs of the weakest and the universal desire for peace.’ This is the appeal that Pope Francis repeated today in St. Peter's Square at the end of the Angelus prayer.
‘Let us continue to pray for an end to wars,’ said the Pope. ‘The 80th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has reawakened throughout the world the necessary rejection of war as a means of resolving conflicts.’
In this regard, the pontiff congratulated Armenia and Azerbaijan, which recently signed a joint declaration of peace. ‘I hope that this event,’ he added, ‘will contribute to a stable and lasting peace in the South Caucasus.’ But Prevost also recalled the situation of the people of Haiti, describing it as ‘increasingly desperate.’
‘There are reports of murders, violence of all kinds, human trafficking, forced exile and kidnappings. I make a heartfelt appeal to all those responsible to release the hostages immediately, and I ask for the concrete support of the international community to create the social and institutional conditions that will allow Haitians to live in peace.’
Before the Angelus prayer, Pope Leo XIV commented on Jesus' invitation proposed by today's liturgy: ‘Sell what you have and give it to the poor’ (Lk 12:33). This means, he explained, ‘not keeping for ourselves the gifts God has given us, but using them generously for the good of others, especially those most in need of our help.’ And this applies not only to the material things we have, but also to ‘our abilities, our time, our affection, our presence, our empathy.’
‘The gift of God that we are,’ he added, ‘is not meant to be exhausted in this way. It needs space, freedom, relationships to fulfil itself and express itself: it needs love, which alone transforms and ennobles every aspect of our existence, making us ever more like God.’
‘Works of mercy,’ he added, ‘are the safest and most profitable bank in which to entrust the treasure of our existence, because there, as the Gospel teaches us, with “two small coins” even a poor widow becomes the richest person in the world.’
"A mother who holds her children close to her: is she not the most beautiful and richest person in the world? Or two lovers, when they are together: do they not feel like a king and queen?'
Therefore, he concluded, 'in the family, in the parish, at school and in the workplace, wherever we are, let us not miss any opportunity to love. This is the vigilance that Jesus asks of us: to accustom ourselves to being attentive, ready and sensitive to one another, as He is to us at every moment.'