Pope Francis calls for a ceasefire: “War is a huge tragedy and a useless massacre that affects the dignity of every person”
“We find an increasingly torn world, but above all we find millions of people, men, women, fathers, mothers, children, whose faces are mostly unknown to us and who we often forget.” As Pope francesco receiving in audience the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See for the presentation of greetings for the new year.
“On the other hand, modern wars no longer take place only on demarcated battlefields, nor do they only concern soldiers. In a context in which the distinction between military and civilian objectives no longer seems to be observed, there is no conflict that does not somehow end up hitting indiscriminately civilian population“, stated the Pontiff.
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“The events in Ukraine and Gaza– underlined Francis- I am clear proof of this. We must not forget that serious violations of international humanitarian law are war crimes, and that it is not enough to detect them, but it is necessary to prevent them. We therefore need a greater commitment from the international community for the protection and implementation of humanitarian law, which seems to be the only way to protect human dignity in situations of war”, and “even when it comes to exercising the right to self-defense, it is It is essential to stick to a proportionate use of force“.
“Maybe we don't realize that civilian casualties they are not collateral damage. They are men and women with names and surnames that lose their lives. They are children who remain orphaned and deprived of the future. They are people who suffer from hunger, thirst and cold or who remain mutilated due to the power of modern weapons”, added Bergoglio.
“If we could look each of them in the eyes, call them by name and evoke their personal history, we would look at the war for what it is: nothing more than a huge tragedy and a useless massacre that affects the dignity of every person“, concluded Pope Francis.
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