Pope Francis addressed the Mother of God with a prayer – asking her to grant peace to the peoples of Russia and Ukraine.
He also called Russians and Ukrainians fraternal peoples who need mutual understanding.
The pontiff made this statement at the end of a sermon he delivered in the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta during his apostolic visit to Corsica.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, help peace between the Russian and Ukrainian peoples. They are brothers, mutual understanding is needed. War is always a defeat, - TASS quotes the head of the Catholic Church.
He also called for peace to be established in the Holy Land – in Palestine, Israel, as well as in Syria and Lebanon, and in general in the entire Middle East region.
On the eve of the trip, the Pope sent a letter to the Apostolic Nuncio in Moscow.
In it, he touched on the topic of the Ukrainian conflict, which, as the text says, brings “so much suffering.”
He also quoted Dostoevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov” and the following statement by Saint Seraphim of Sarov: “Acquire a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved.”
A month before that, the pontiff sent letters to the apostolic nuncio in Kyiv.
