POPE Francis has called for prayers to “end the horrors” of Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
“I renew my invitation to implore the Lord for peace for the beloved Ukrainian people who for six months now have been suffering the horror of war,” he said during his general audience talk on August 24.
The pope prayed for prisoners, the deceased, orphans and refugees, while calling for “concrete steps to end the war and avert the risk of a nuclear disaster in Zaporizhzhia”, a city in south-eastern Ukraine.
The pope said he was praying for those who have been imprisoned, particularly those who are in a vulnerable or “fragile condition,” and he called on authorities “to work for their liberation.”
“I think of the children, so many dead, and so many refugees, many of whom are here,” he said.
“So many wounded, so many Ukrainian and Russian children have become orphans.
“Orphanity has no nationality…”
The pope said his mind was also on the amount of cruelty on display and the number of innocent people “who are paying for the madness.”
He asked members of his audience to pray for those impacted by the conflict.
“But today, in a special way, six months since the start of the war, let us think of Ukraine and Russia, two countries I consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, that she, a true mother of these beloved countries, that she looks upon Ukraine and Russia and brings them peace,” he said.
“We need peace.”
