Vatican City, April 16. Pope Francis showed today his desire that the Easter celebrations in Russia and Ukraine help to find peace, after the Regina Coeli Sunday prayer, which between Easter Sunday and Pentecost replaces the traditional Angelus.
“I am also thinking of our brothers and sisters in Russia and the Ukraine who are celebrating Easter today. May the Lord be close to them and help them to make peace,” the pontiff said before the nearly 20,000 faithful gathered to listen to him in the Plaza de Saint Peter of the Vatican.
At the end of the Regina Coeli, Francis wanted to express his “closeness to the brothers who celebrate Easter especially in the East” and sadly recalled that “wars continue to sow death in gruesome ways”, without citing any specific case.
“We feel pain for these atrocities and we pray for their victims,” he continued, before asking God that “the world no longer experiences the dismay of death at human hands, but the wonder of life.”
It was in this context that he said: “I am also thinking of our brothers and sisters in Russia and Ukraine who celebrate Easter today. May the Lord be close to them and help them to make peace.”
Previously, he also referred to the situation in Sudan and invited to pray so that the confrontations of the last few hours cease and a negotiated solution is reached in the African country. EFE
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