Pope Francis has renewed his appeal for global peace as he calls for an end to all wars, and prays that God might sow the seed of peace in the hearts of world leaders.
“We renew our prayerful closeness to the dear Ukrainian population so harshly tried and to those who suffer the horror of war in Palestine and Israel, as well as in other parts of the world.
“Let us pray for these people who are enduring war, and let us pray to the Lord that He may sow the seed of peace in the hearts of the authorities of the countries,” Pope said in a Vatican statement as he encouraged the Church to pray for nations at war.
The Papal in his concern for global crises has made peace appeal a near-constant refrain in his public audiences. He recently held his annual ‘State of the World’ address to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, detailing his concerns regarding global issues.
According to the head of the Catholic Church, the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Russia’s war in Ukraine topped his list of situations that require global attention and concern. He also condemned the stock of available weapons that offer the illusion of deterrence.
“The contrary is true: the availability of weapons encourages their use and increases their production. Weapons create mistrust and divert resources,” he stated.
The head of the Catholic Church recently met with representatives of the Dialop Transversal dialogue project, an initiative that invites socialists and Christians to work for a common ethic towards building a better future for the world.
He reiterated the centrality of the vulnerable as well as the urgency of countering the triple scourge of corruption, abuse of power, and lawlessness; both in politics and in society.
The Pope shared his pain for a world that appears divided by wars and polarizations, just as he encouraged Christians to look to the future and try to imagine a better world.
“We Argentinians say: don’t wrinkle, don’t go backwards. And this is the invitation I extend to you too: don’t back down, don’t give up, and don’t stop dreaming of a better world.”
The dialogue project is an initiative between socialists/Marxists, communists, and Christians aimed at formulating a common social ethic that can be proposed as a new narrative for a Europe in search of its identity, with an integral ecology between the Social Doctrine of the Church and Marxist social critique at its core.
The initiative was born in 2014 after a meeting between Pope Francis, Alexis Tsipras, then president of the Syriza party and later Greek prime minister after 2015, Walter Baier, president of the Party of the European Left, and Franz Kronreif of the Focolare Movement.
