Pope Francis has urged global leaders to push for peace in Sudan and northern Mozambique, where a Catholic mission was set ablaze. Source: Vatican News.
“Wherever fighting occurs, people are exhausted, tired of war, which as always is pointless and inconclusive, and will only bring death, only destruction, and will never solve the problem.”
Pope Francis launched that appeal on Sunday after praying the Angelus prayer with pilgrims in St Peter’s Square.
The Pope recalled that 10 months have passed since conflict broke out in Sudan, leading to a serious humanitarian situation.
“I once again ask the warring parties to stop this war, which causes so much harm to the people and the future of the country,” he said. “Let us pray that paths to peace are soon found to build the future of dear Sudan.”
The Pope lamented a flare-up in “violence against defenceless populations, the destruction of infrastructure, and widespread insecurity” in the northern Cabo Delgado Region of Mozambique.
He noted that the Catholic mission of Our Lady of Africa in Mazeze was set ablaze.
According to Oliveira Amimo, the administrator of Mozambique’s Chiúre district, armed assailants destroyed the Catholic chapel and several people’s homes.
“Let us pray for peace to return to that tormented region,” the Pope said.
He also prayed for people suffering from conflict in other counties on the African continent, as well as in Ukraine and the Holy Land.
War, he recalled, “is always a defeat.”
“Let us instead pray tirelessly,” the Pope concluded, “because prayer is effective, and let us ask the Lord for the gift of minds and hearts dedicated concretely to peace.”
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Pope prays for Sudan, northern Mozambique as Catholic church attacked (By Devin Watkins & Nathan Morley, Vatican News)
