‘Senseless and Blasphemous War in Ukraine’ – Pope Francis
“Christians must have the gaze of Christ, who embraces from below, who seeks those who are lost, with compassion. This is, and must be, the gaze of the Church, always, the gaze of Christ, not the condemning gaze.”
In light of this, Pope Francis insists, no Christian can give a moral or religious justification to the “senseless and blasphemous” war in Ukraine, and of every war, which “offends the most holy name of God.”
“We, men of God who proclaim the Gospel of the Risen One, have the duty to cry out this truth of faith: God is a God of peace, love, and hope. A God who wants us all to be brothers, as His Son Jesus Christ taught us. The horrors of war, of every war, offend the most holy name of God. And they offend Him even more if His name is abused to justify such unspeakable carnage.”
Citing Pope Pius XII’s words on the eve of the outbreak of the Second World War, Pope Francis once again warns that “in war, everyone loses”, even “those who did not take part in it and who, in cowardly indifference, stood by and watched this horror without intervening to bring peace”.
Source: ICN
