- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Pope Francis Calls Out IDF Killing of ‘Defenseless’ Palestinians

© REUTERS / Stefano RellandiniPope Francis delivers his Easter message in the Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world) address from the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican
Pope Francis delivers his Easter message in the Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world) address from the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican - Sputnik International
Subscribe
In his Easter address on Sunday, Pope Francis appealed for an end to the ongoing violence in the Holy Land at the hands of Israeli snipers after 15 Palestinians were killed on the Israeli-Gaza border during the “Great Return March."

The pope urged for peace in the Holy Land in his "Urbi et Orbi" message from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, stating that the conflict over Palestinian refugees' right to return to the homeland "does not spare the defenseless."

Tens of thousands of people listened to the pope's speech in the square below the Basilica.

Francis appealed for "reconciliation for the Holy Land, also experiencing in these days the wounds of on ongoing conflict that do not spare the defenseless."

Although UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and other international leaders have requested an investigation into the ongoing violence at the Gaza-Israel border, Israel's defense minister has rejected petitions to do so.

In addition, the pope urged for peace for "the entire world, beginning with the beloved and long-suffering land of Syria, whose people are worn down by an apparently endless war." 

Pope Francis greets Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine during a private audience at the Vatican, February 5, 2018 - Sputnik International
World
Pope Francis, Erdogan Call For Keeping Jerusalem's Status

"This Easter, may the light of the risen Christ illumine the consciences of all political and military leaders, so that a swift end may be brought to the carnage in course," he stated.

He also prayed that the message of the faith "bears fruits of hope and dignity where there are deprivation and exclusion, hunger and unemployment, where there are migrants and refugees — so often rejected by today's culture of waste — and victims of the drug trade, human trafficking and contemporary forms of slavery."

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала