“Brothers and sisters, already many have died,” the Pope said. “Please, let no more innocent blood be shed, neither in the Holy Land nor in Ukraine, nor in any other place! Enough! Wars are always a defeat, always!”
“Prayer is the meek and holy force to oppose the diabolical force of hatred, terrorism, and war,” the Holy Father told the thousands gathered. “I invite all believers to join with the Church in the Holy Land and to dedicate next Tuesday, 17 October, to prayer and fasting. And now let us pray to Our Lady.“
Pope Francis’ request echoes the one issued by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Catholic patriarch of Jerusalem, who has urged Catholics to organize times of prayer with Eucharistic adoration and recitation of the rosary this October 17, asking for peace and reconciliation in the Holy Land, delivering “to God the Father our thirst for peace, justice, and reconciliation.”
“In this time of sorrow and dismay, we do not want to remain helpless. We cannot let death and its sting (1 Cor 15:55) be the only word we hear,” Cardinal Pizzaballa said in a statement issued on October 11.
“That is why we feel the need to pray, to turn our hearts to God the Father. Only in this way we can draw the strength and serenity needed to endure these hard times, by turning to him, in prayer and intercession, to implore and cry out to God amidst this anguish.”
By helping the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, one of four Pontifical Mission Societies, you are supporting the Church in mission territories, including the Holy Land.
