Rome, Italy, Jan 26, 2022 / 16:00 pm
The Vatican’s foreign minister said Wednesday, in reference to tensions between Ukraine and Russia, that it is a scandal that those who suffer most from conflict are those most helpless to prevent it.
At a prayer service for peace in Ukraine on Jan. 26, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher said, “we all know how tragic war is and we have its serious consequences constantly before our eyes, even more evident in our times.”
“These are painful situations that deprive many people of even the most fundamental rights. It is even more scandalous to see that those who suffer most from conflicts are not those who decide whether or not to start them, but are above all those who are only helpless victims,” he said at Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere.
The prayer service was organized by the Catholic community of Sant’Egidio in light of Pope Francis’ call for a day of prayer for Ukraine amid fears of a potential deeper Russian incursion into the Eastern European country.