Speaking at the conclusion of the Sunday Angelus, Pope Francis offered his prayers for the victims of the large landslide that swept through a village in southern Ethiopia. Source: Vatican News.
The Pope said he is close to the suffering people and to those rescue workers providing assistance.
The death toll of 257 victims continues to rise following the two devastating landslides in Gofa Zone, Southern Ethiopia, while the population affected is in desperate need of humanitarian aid.
The first landslide in the remote mountainous locality of Kencho Shacha Gozdi was triggered by heavy rains on July 21 and 22, and the second engulfed those who had gathered to rescue people.
The Pope pointed out how so many people in the world are suffering from calamities and hunger, yet the manufacture and sale of weapons continues, fuelling wars large and small and consuming global resources.
He called it a “scandal” the international community should not tolerate, as well as a contradiction to the spirit of fraternity characterising the Olympic Games in Paris. He underscored that “war is a defeat” for humanity.
Francis also recalled that yesterday marked World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, which has the theme “Do not cast me off in my old age” from the Book of Psalms.
He asked everyone to hear the voice of the elderly who say, “Don’t abandon me!”, and to answer them, “I will not abandon you!”
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Pope prays for victims of Ethiopia landslides, recalls war always a defeat (Vatican News)
