Pope Francis appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday to "stop the spiral of violence and death" in Ukraine and condemned the "absurd" risk to humanity of a catastrophic nuclear war by escalating tensions, the NRP portal reported .
The Pope made his strongest plea to date in connection with the war, which has been going on for seven months, in St. Peter's Square.
It was the first time in public that he referred to Putin, the Russian president. The Holy Father also called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be open to serious peace proposals. The head of the church urged the UN to use all diplomatic means to end the war.
"This terrible, unfathomable wound of humanity, instead of healing, continues to bleed, threatening to spread"
said Ferenc.
"It is absurd that humanity is once again facing the threat of nuclear war"
- emphasized the Pope, who asked the President of the Russian Federation to stop the further armed conflict for the sake of the love of his people.
At the same time, he called on Zelenskyi to be open to serious peace proposals and called on all international actors and political leaders to do everything possible to end the war, avoiding any further dangerous escalation.
Regarding the war, Pope Francis condemned armed conflicts and urged dialogue between the parties, but emphasized that Ukraine has the right to defend itself from aggression.
Source: hirado.hu
Featured image: MTI/EPA/Vatican Media
