Pope Francis urged an end to the conflicts between Israelis and Palestinians in his speech on St. Peter's Square on Sunday.

Pope Francis emphasized that he receives the news from the Holy Land with great pain.

He mentioned the ten Palestinians who lost their lives in an anti-terrorist Israeli military operation in recent days, as well as the attack at a synagogue in the Jerusalem area, in which a Palestinian killed seven Israelis and wounded three others. The Pope added that since the beginning of the year, dozens of Palestinians have died in firefights with the Israeli army.

"The death spiral, which is growing stronger every day, does nothing but extinguish the rays of trust between the two peoples that still exist," declared the Pope.

The head of the church appealed to the Israeli and Palestinian governments, as well as the international community, for an immediate solution without delay, which is based on dialogue and the sincere search for peace. Pope Francis asked the faithful to pray for peace in the Holy Land.

The Pope called the humanitarian situation in the area of ​​the so-called Lachin Corridor serious. Pope Francis has been drawing attention to the South Caucasus region for several weeks after Azerbaijan closed the corridor connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia on December 12.

Pope Francis said he sympathizes with those who find themselves in "inhuman conditions" in the middle of winter. He urged an international effort for a peaceful solution.

The "martyr" also called for peace in Ukraine, for the "abused" Ukrainian people.

The Pope announced that on Tuesday he will leave for an apostolic visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, where fighting has also been going on for years.

He called the visit an "ecumenical pilgrimage of peace" after the head of the Catholic Church in South Sudan is joined by the head of the Anglican Church, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Iain Greenshields, the so-called moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

Source: Magyar Hírlap

Featured image: MTI/Epa