Wars like the one in Ukraine, where civilian areas are targeted by what the Sovereign Pontiff called indiscriminate destruction, represent „a crime against God and humanity,” Pope Francis said on Monday, quoted by Reuters and Agerpres.
The Sovereign Pontiff made these remarks in his annual address to diplomats accredited to the Vatican, in which he usually reviews the world situation, informally known as his ”state of the world” speech. Pope Francis spoke about ”the war in Ukraine, with its traces of death and destruction, with its attacks against civilian infrastructures, which cause the loss of human life not only due to gunfire and acts of violence, but also hunger and of cold”.
He quoted from the Vatican Constitution, which states that ”any act of war aimed at the indiscriminate destruction of entire cities or vast areas with inhabitants is a crime against God and humanity that requires firm and unequivocal condemnation”.
Referring to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when the world was on the brink of nuclear war after the Soviet Union transported nuclear weapons to Cuban territory, Pope Francis said: ”Unfortunately, even today, the nuclear threat is heightened and the world he feels fear and anguish again”.
The Sovereign Pontiff reiterated his call for the total prohibition of nuclear weapons around the world, calling even their possession for reasons of deterrence as ”immoral”.
Agerpres
