Pope Francis has criticized Russia’s President, Vladimir
Putin as the number of casualties in Ukraine continues to rise.
Pope Francis during his Angelus address at the Vatican, with
the Russian invasion of Ukraine as his point of focus, said the Russian
invasion of Ukraine is ‘not a military operation, but a war sowing destruction,
death’.
The Pope said that the Vatican has sent two cardinals to
Ukraine to assist humanitarian efforts and is willing to do “everything” it can
for peace in Ukraine.
“This is only as a sign of the presence of the Pope but of all people who want to say ‘war is madness, please stop, look at this cruelty!
“Rivers of blood and tears are flowing in Ukraine. This is
not just a military operation but a war which is sowing death, destruction and
misery.”
The Pope called for a “return to respecting international
law” and urged that evacuation corridors be opened so civilians can escape the
conflict.
The first Sunday of Lent, at the Vatican in the Apostolic
Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, had thousands of people
holding Ukrainian flags with messages of solidarity with the country under
attack.
“True happiness and freedom don’t lie in possessing, but in
sharing, not taking advantage of others but in loving them, not in the
obsession of power, but in the joy of service.
“We must be vigilant because they often present themselves
under an apparent form of good. In fact, the devil, who is cunning, always uses
deception and knows how to disguise himself with sacred, apparently religious
motives.
“Let’s take our time for silence and prayer, during which we
can stop and look at what is stirring in our hearts…” he said.
“Placing ourselves before the Word of God in prayer, so that
a positive fight against the evil that enslaves us, a fight for freedom, may
take place within us,” Pope Francis prayed.
Meanwhile, Ukraine and Russia are expected to meet for the
third round of negotiations, which both sides had said could take place on
Monday.
The two delegations last met in the Brest region in western
Belarus for two rounds of peace talks and agreed to have humanitarian corridors
in place in the embattled cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha to facilitate the
evacuation of civilians.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com