Pope Francis calls for peace and compassion in crisis areas

Pope Francis calls for peace and compassion in crisis areas

In his moving Christmas address, Pope Francis recalled peace again and to end conflicts worldwide. During the traditional blessing "Urbi et Orbi" on December 25th, the 88-year-old church head recalled in particular the severe humanitarian crises in Ukraine and in the Middle East. "Add the fire, leave the hostages free and help the population exhausted by hunger and war," he appealed with a view to the victims of people in Gaza and other crisis regions. In his message, he not only condemned violence, but also called for increased solidarity with those who have to suffer from armed conflicts and climate change, such as in Lebanon, Syria and in Africa, such as kathpress reported.

Criticism of the military approach in the Gaza Strip

Franziskus' words came in the middle of increasing violence in the Gaza Strip, where he described the military actions as "cruelty". In a prayer for Angelus, he spoke of "so much cruelty, the children who are shot at with machine guns" and criticized bombing at schools and hospitals. These statements were made after an Israeli air raid, which cost lives on Friday ten members of a family, including seven children. Israel's army rejected these reports and emphasized that she had targeted militant terrorists. In response to the Pope's statements, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed out that Francis ignores the reality of the struggle against terrorism and "with two dimensions" between victims and perpetrators, such as yahoo news reported.