Pope Francis devoted his Christmas Day message from the Vatican to a plea for amity, saying the world was suffering from a ‘famine of peace’, and calling for an end to the ‘senseless war’ in Ukraine.
It was Pope Francis’ 10th Christmas Day address since he assumed the papacy.
Speaking from a balcony at the basilica overlooking St Peter’s Square, the 86-year-old Pope lamented the human cost of war.
While the war in Ukraine occupied much of his 10-minute speech, the BBC reports, he spoke of ‘a grave famine of peace also in other regions and other theatres of this Third World War’.
He singled out conflicts and humanitarian crises in the Middle East, Myanmar, Haiti, and the Sahel region of Africa.
The pontiff also prayed for ‘reconciliation’ in Iran, where mass anti-government protests have swept the country for more than three months, prompting harsh responses from the authorities which human rights groups say have claimed more than 500 lives.
The Pope urged the world not to forget those ‘who go hungry while huge amounts of food daily go to waste and resources are being spent on weapons’.
‘The war in Ukraine has further aggravated this situation, putting entire peoples at risk of famine, especially in Afghanistan and in the countries of the Horn of Africa,’ he said.
‘We know that every war causes hunger and exploits food as a weapon, hindering its distribution to people already suffering.’
[Image: Annett_Klingner from Pixabay]