armed conquests are incompatible with the Gospel

The Pontiff met in the Vatican with a delegation from the Patriarchate of Constantinople and called on everyone to “pray, help and convert” in this time “disturbed by cruel and senseless war aggression.” Christian unity is “an essential condition” for peace.

Vatican City () – Armed conquest and nationalism “have nothing to do with the Kingdom that Jesus announced”. And unity among Christians is “an essential condition for an authentic universal brotherhood,” Pope Francis said today. It was during an audience at the Vatican, receiving the Orthodox delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, that he came to Rome, as is tradition, on the occasion of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. In the words of the Pontiff it is not difficult to discern a warning regarding the positions adopted by the Russian Orthodox Church regarding the war in Ukraine

Francis quoted the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, a pioneer – along with Paul VI – of the ecumenical path, who liked to say: “Sister Churches, brother peoples.” “Today, reconciliation between separated Christians is more relevant than ever. As a contribution to the pacification of peoples in conflict, while the world is shaken by a cruel and senseless war aggression, in which so many Christians fight each other”

The Pontiff called everyone to “mourn, help and convert”. Cry for “the victims and the blood spilled, which is so much, the death of so many innocents, the traumas of families, of cities, of an entire people.” Come to the aid of those who have been forced to abandon their homes and their country as “Jesus who migrates, poor and wounded”. But it is also necessary to convert – Francis warned – “to understand that armed conquests, expansions and imperialism have nothing to do with the Kingdom that Jesus announced, with the Lord of Easter who in Gethsemane asked the disciples to renounce violence, that they put the sword in its place “because everyone who takes the sword will die by the sword” (Mt 26,52); and truncating all objections he said: “Enough!” (Lk 22,51)”.

In this sense, “the search for Christian unity is not only an internal matter of the Churches”, but also a path towards peace. Francis invites us to ask ourselves: “What kind of world would we like to see emerge after this terrible affair of clashes and contrasts? And what contribution are we willing to offer now for a more fraternal humanity? As believers,” he replied, “we can only get the answers from the Gospel. Let us help each other not to succumb to the temptation to muzzle its disruptive novelty with the seductions of the world and turn the Father of all into the god of our own reasons and nations. Christ is our peace”, concluded the Pope, ” let us begin again from Him, to understand that it is no longer time to regulate ecclesial agendas according to the logic of power and convenience of the world, but according to the bold prophecy of peace of the Gospel”. With humility and much prayer, but also with courage and parresia”.