Pope Francis' ministry is marked by the pain of armed conflicts.

Pope Francis, who celebrated the eleventh anniversary of his election as pope on March 13, 2013, urged "overcoming the madness of war" on Wednesday.

At a regular audience on Wednesday, he declared: "Let us pray to the Lord, give us grace to defeat the madness of war, because war always means defeat."

The head of the church said only a few sentences, his speech (due to his ongoing cold) was read again by one of his colleagues for him.

The news portal Vatican News, celebrating the anniversary, wrote that the pain caused by the wars left its mark on the ministry of Pope Francis.

Since March 13 last year, the Pope has appealed more than 130 times for peace in Ukraine, as well as urging an end to the conflict in the Middle East more than 60 times.

There was no papal speech at the audiences and during the various prayers that did not refer to the horrors of war, did not emphasize the closeness to the peoples affected by the conflict, did not urge peace and the courage to negotiate: Pope Francis' calls for peace sometimes sounded powerful, despite , that the Pope's voice has been weakened in recent months by a respiratory illness or flu, and at other times they have been sounded as a quick alarm bell in order to prevent indifference and cynicism from taking over the "common news of bomb attacks on schools and homes".

The eleven years of Pope Francis were always guided by the hope of a just and lasting peace: this common denominator must be kept in mind even when the Pope's thoughts are used as a tool.

Vatican News indicated that following Pope Francis's latest interview, the papal nuncio was asked to come to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kyiv on Monday, and expressed Ukraine's disappointment that the head of the church spoke about the fact that Kyiv should show the courage of the white flag and start negotiations with Russia on the two about the end of the year-long war.

The Italian Bishops' Conference (Cei) summed up Pope Francis' service so far in eleven words: Buonasera (Good evening), with which he greeted the faithful in St. Peter's Square after his election, Joy, with which, according to the Pope, faith should be lived, Gospel, Mercy , Love, Family, Youth, Brotherhood, the Created World, about which he also wrote an encyclical, Reform and the Church.

On the occasion of the anniversary, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the head of the Vatican office responsible for evangelization, announced on the Italian television channel TG2 that on May 9, Pope Francis will issue an apostolic letter about the jubilee holy year 2025, which will contain what the pope "wants to give the church and people of good will (…), and hope is what everyone needs. The Pope wants great signs of hope to be shown in the next jubilee holy year".

VaticanNews.va
MTI

Cover photo: Pope Francis at the Mass presented in St. Peter's Basilica
Source: Facebook/Vatican News