Reflecting on the war in Ukraine, Pope Francis urged the world to learn from history on the threat of nuclear war and choose the path of peace while he also lamented the plight of Ukrainians forced to flee that conflict.
“We cannot forget the danger of nuclear war that threatened the world at that time,” Francis said during a mass in St Peter’s Square on October 9, referring to the Cold War years of the 1960s.
“Why not learn from history? Even at that time, there were conflicts and huge tensions, but the way of peace was chosen,” the 85-year-old Francis said.
He asked those attending to remember the plight of Ukrainians fleeing war, which he said “causes us great suffering.”
The pope has mostly avoided assailing Russia directly since its unprovoked February 24 invasion of Ukraine, but he has increasingly spoken out against the death and destruction of the war and the related refugee crisis.
He also urged Europe to show more mercy to migrants fleeing financial hardships in their home countries.
“The exclusion of migrants is scandalous! Indeed, the exclusion of migrants is criminal. It makes them die in front of us,” the pontiff said.
“And so today, we have the Mediterranean, which is the largest cemetery in the world. The exclusion of migrants is disgusting, it is sinful, it is criminal.”
Hundreds of thousands of migrants have attempted to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa in an effort to reach Europe.
Nearly 25,000 have either drowned or gone missing since 2014, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration.
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