ROME — Pope Francis has once again denounced Russia’s war against “loved and oppressed” Ukraine, calling for prayers and assistance for citizens under siege.
“I carry in my heart every day the beloved and oppressed Ukraine, which continues to be plagued by barbaric attacks such as the one that struck the Kremenchug shopping center,” the Pope said after the Angelus prayer at the Vatican on Wednesday.
“I pray that this crazy war will end soon, and I invite you again, tirelessly, to continue praying for peace: May the Lord open the means of communication that do not want or people cannot find! ” said.
“And let’s not neglect to help the Ukrainian people who are suffering so much,” said Francis.
What the pope was talking about was the Russian missile attack on a crowded shopping center in Kremenchuk, central Ukraine, on Tuesday that killed at least 16 civilians.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement after the attack, “Today’s attack by Russia on a shopping mall in Kremenchuk is one of the most senseless terrorist acts in European history.”
Pope Francis has used his most hurtful rhetoric ever to condemn Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine, calling for an end to the attacks and the establishment of humanitarian corridors for refugees. https://t.co/d4LLWpTpAf
– Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) 6 March 2022
Pope Francis has been criticized for his reluctance to name Russian aggression directly and for his refusal to find guilty and innocent parties in the conflict.
In an interview with the Jesuit magazine La Civilta Cattolica Published earlier this month, the Pope said there were no “good people” and “bad people” at war, suggesting that various factors were driving Russia’s aggression, including barking from NATO and the international arms trade.
The Pope said he was “against reducing the complexity of the distinction between good people and bad people, without talking about roots and interests that are so complex.”
“We have a scenario of world war, global interests, arms sales and geopolitical allocations devastating a hero before our eyes,” he said.
Ukrainian Archbishop Svyatoslav Shevchuk, in a bitter response, said that Russia did not “incite” to invade Ukraine and that the causes of the war were “in Russia itself”.
“By living in Ukraine, we see and know that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is completely without reason,” said the Archbishop. “Anyone who thinks there is an external cause driving Russia’s military aggression is either at the mercy of Russian propaganda or is deliberately deceiving the world.”
Source: Breitbart
