TheCable

Pope Francis has called on the world to resist “the logic of weapons” and embrace peace.

Speaking on Sunday in his message after he led Easter Mass at the Vatican, Francis condemned war as “always an absurdity and a defeat”, mentioning conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and Myanmar.

He appealed for a ceasefire in Gaza, calling for greater aid deliveries and the release of hostages taken by the Hamas.

“My thoughts go especially to the victims of the many conflicts worldwide, beginning with those in Israel and Palestine, and in Ukraine. May the risen Christ open a path of peace for the war-torn peoples of those regions,” he said.

“Let us not allow the current hostilities to continue to have grave repercussions on the civil population, by now at the limit of its endurance, and above all on the children.

“How much suffering we see in the eyes of the children: the children in those lands at war have forgotten how to smile! With those eyes, they ask us: Why? Why all this death? Why all this destruction?

“War is always an absurdity, war is always a defeat! Let us not allow the strengthening winds of war to blow on Europe and the Mediterranean. Let us not yield to the logic of weapons and rearming. Peace is never made with arms, but with outstretched hands and open hearts.

“Brothers and sisters, let us not forget Syria, which for thirteen years has suffered from the effects of a long and devastating war. So many deaths and disappearances, so much poverty and destruction, call for a response on the part of everyone, and of the international community.

“My thoughts turn today in a special way to Lebanon, which has for some time experienced institutional impasse and a deepening economic and social crisis, now aggravated by the hostilities on its border with Israel.

“May the Risen Lord console the beloved Lebanese people and sustain the entire country in its vocation to be a land of encounter, coexistence and pluralism.

“I also think in particular of the region of the western Balkans, where significant steps are being taken towards integration in the European project. May ethnic, cultural and confessional differences not be a cause of division, but rather a source of enrichment for all of Europe and for the world as a whole.”

On Friday, Francis had pulled out of a Good Friday service at the last minute, with the Vatican saying this was done “to preserve his health” ahead of major Easter engagements over the weekend.