“I am asking all warring countries: stop the war. Seek negotiation. Seek peace,” the head of the Catholic Church said in an interview with the US television station CBS on Wednesday night. “A negotiated peace is better than an endless war.”
When asked if he himself could be a mediator in conflicts, the 87-year-old pontiff said: “I can pray. I’m doing it. I pray a lot.”
Francis did not directly answer a question about whether he has a message for Russian President Vladimir Putin after more than two years of war in Ukraine. He responded to this with a general call to end the conflicts.
Last month, another TV interview by the Pope caused a lot of discontent in Ukraine. In it, he advised to think about raising a “white flag” – in wartime it is considered a sign of capitulation.
In the interview, Francis also avoided answering the question of whether the images of starving Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip can be equated with genocide, which various countries accuse Israel of. He only said that he knows from daily phone conversations that the situation in the Gaza Strip is “very, very difficult.”
But the Pope had a clear position when asked about climate change deniers. “Those people are crazy. Even if you show them the studies, they don’t believe them, Francis said. “Climate change exists.”
Tags: Pope negotiated peace endless war
