“This week again missiles and bombs have fallen on civilians, the elderly, children, and pregnant mothers. I went to see the wounded children who are here in Rome. One was missing an arm; one had a head injury …innocent children,” the Pope reflected. “I think of the millions of Ukrainian refugees who must flee leaving everything behind, and I feel a great pain for those who do not even have the possibility to escape. So many grandparents, sick and poor people separated from their own families, so many children and fragile people are left to die under the bombs without being able to receive help and find safety even in the air raid shelters,” he continued. “All this is inhuman! Indeed, it is also sacrilegious because it goes against the sacredness of human life, Pope Francis: A Call for Prayer and Peace Excerpt from Catholic News Agency: : Pope Francis pleads for an end to ‘abhorrent’ war in Ukraine, Images taken from: www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/letter-pope-francisfamilies; www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/pope-francisunique especially against defenseless human life, which must be respected and protected, not eliminated, and this comes before any strategy!” Pope Francis said. “Let us not forget it is inhuman and sacrilegious cruelty! Let us pray in silence for those who are suffering. Thank you, dear brothers and sisters, for this witness and for the concrete support you are offering courageously to so many desperate people!” he continued. “Let us be close to this people, let us embrace them with affection, with concrete commitment and prayer.” www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/250735/pope-francisappeal-to-end-ukraine-war PoPe Francis’ Prayer for Ukraine written originally by Archbishop Domenico Battaglia in Italian and translated to English here: Lord Jesus, who died in his mother’s arms in a bunker in Kharkiv, have mercy on us. Lord Jesus, sent at 20 years old to the front, have mercy on us. Lord Jesus, who still sees armed hands in the shadow of your Cross, have mercy on us! Forgive us, Lord, if, not content with the nails with which we pierced your hands, we continue to drink from the blood of the dead torn apart by weapons. Forgive us, Lord, if these hands that you created for care have been transformed into instruments of death. Forgive us, Lord, if we continue to kill our brother, if we continue like Cain to remove the stones form our field to kill Abel. Forgive us if we continue to justify cruelty with our toil, if with our pain we legitimize the cruelty of our actions. Forgive us the war, Lord. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of god, we implore you: Stop the hand of Cain! Enlighten our consciences, Let not our will be done, Do not abandon us to our own actions. Stop us, Lord, stop us. Amen. peace
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