Pope demands peace and hope: wars destroy children!

Pope demands peace and hope: wars destroy children!

Vatican City, February 12, 2025 - Pope Francis tirelessly calls for more peace for peace. At the general audience in the Vatican, he appealed to the believers to do everything in their power to promote peace, including prayer, personal victims and fine exercises. "We are not born for killing, but to let peoples grow," said the Pontifex and recalled the plagues in the world, including the suffering Ukraine, the conflicts in Palestine and Israel as well as the need in Myanmar and South Sudan. The Pope underlined that "war always a defeat" and that everyone has to contribute their part to promoting peace. Because of his health problems, including bronchitis, he presented his speech in a shortened form while an employee supported him kathpress.at.

Peace narrative on New Year's address

In addition to his general speech, the Pope also sent a video message on the occasion of the Sanremo Music Festival, in which he emphasizes the importance of music as an instrument of peace. "Music is beauty, music is an instrument of peace. It touches the hearts and appeals to all peoples," he said, emphasizing that many children are stolen from the joy of life by war. The message served to draw attention to the suffering children in conflict areas as part of his continuous commitment to peace, as well as in his message on the 58th World Peace Day, which was published on January 1, 2025. In this he called for global efforts for justice and peace and emphasized that combating injustices is crucial for peace, such as vaticannews.va documented.

Francis also addressed the responsibility of the international community to specifically combat the need for debt allocation for poorer countries and urgency to combat ecological and social inequalities. "The Holy Year is a call to solidarity," he said, reminding people that we are all responsible for each other to protect the common house, the earth, and to secure a better future.