During the traditional Easter Sunday mass in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis prayed for peace for Ukraine and condemned the “violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war.”

“The world is marking an Easter of war,” CNN Newsroom host Fredericka Whitfield quoted the pontiff before introducing a video clip of his remarks, commenting that the war was “casting a shadow on religious celebrations this weekend for Christians and Jews around the world.”

“May there be peace for war-torn Ukraine,” said Francis, according to the translation. “So sorely tried by the violence and the destruction of the cruel and senseless war in which it was dragged.”

The Washington Post reported additional quotes from Francis’ sermon that addressed the conflict in Ukraine:

We have seen all too much blood, all too much violence. Our hearts, too, have been filled with fear and anguish, as so many of our brothers and sisters have had to lock themselves away to be safe from bombing.

Let us all commit ourselves to imploring peace, from our balconies and in our streets. May the leaders of nations hear people’s plea for peace.

…I see the faces of the orphaned children fleeing from the war…As we look at them, we cannot help but hear their cry of pain, along with that of all those other children who suffer throughout our world: those dying of hunger or lack of medical care, those who are victims of abuse and violence, and those denied the right to be born.

CNN religion commentator Father Edward Beck joined Whitfield to discuss Francis’ remarks.

It was most likely hopeless for the leader of the Catholic church to attempt to negotiate with Vladimir Putin, said Beck, but Francis had reached out to the Archibishop of the Russian Orthodox Church. It was “mind-boggling” that the archbishop was supporting Putin and the invasion of Ukraine, Beck added. “In the name of Christianity, no less.”

“The pope is doing what he can behind the scenes, but there are many obstacles,” said Beck. Many of the Russian people were not supportive of this invasion, and he hoped that Francis would be able to reach “sane-thinking people who can actually begin to make a difference” in Russia.

Watch the video above, via CNN.

The post Pope Francis Prays for Peace in Ukraine Amid ‘Easter of War’, Condemns ‘Cruel and Senseless’ Invasion first appeared on Mediaite.

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