Pope urges politicians to have wisdom, avoid escalation

Pope Francis urged an end to “escalation” in wars, after the situation in Russia became more tense last week.

Russia said that NATO allies had “entered a new round of escalating tension and they are doing this deliberately” after the US and Germany allowed Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons to strike inside Russia.

Pope Francis prayed for peace as he does every Sunday after leading the midday Angelus.

And let us not forget tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Myanmar. I appeal to the wisdom of governing parties to cease the escalation and to put every effort into dialogue and negotiation.

The Pope also turned attention to Sudan, which is fighting what The Economist calls “the war the world forgot.”

Some details noted by that magazine:

Famine is expected by June — by some estimates this could kill more than 2m people by the end of September. 

[C]onservative estimates [suggest] more than 17,000 people have been killed in the conflict since April 2023. The true number is surely much higher.

[It is] estimated that more than 9m people [were] displaced across the country [by the end of last year]. More than half of these were under the age of 18; nearly a quarter were under five.

Last week, the warring parties refused a US invitation to return to peace talks. However, a civilian group was able to gather some 600 delegates from across the political spectrum, to seek a way to end the civil war.

The Pope asked the faithful to pray:

I invite you to pray for Sudan, where the war that has been going on for over a year still has not found a peaceful solution. May the weapons be silenced and, with the commitment of the local authorities and the international community, help be brought to the population and the many displaced people; may the Sudanese refugees find welcome and protection in neighboring countries.

Read more:9 Searing ways Pope Francis speaks of war