'War is everywhere. Don't forget Myanmar'

From St. Peter's Square, Francis asked “May the Lord give us peace!” and recalled the Asian conflict, along with Palestine, Israel and the “martyred Ukraine.” In the catechism on the virtue of fortitude he stated that it leads to saying no to the “atrocities” of the world, such as wars and violence. “A Christian without courage is a useless Christian,” he added.

Vatican City () – Pope Francis does not stop remembering the “martyred Ukraine” along with all the conflicts that spread throughout the world. In the general audience this Wednesday he again asked “May the Lord give us peace!” On a windy day, from the center of the esplanade in front of Saint Peter's Square, the Holy Father also remembered “Palestine and Israel”, in the greeting he addressed to the Italian-speaking pilgrims. “War is everywhere,” he observed sadly to the assembled faithful. And he also asked that Myanmar not be forgotten, a country that continues to be the scene of violence and instability, three years after the military coup.

“Let us not forget these brothers and sisters of ours who suffer so much in war zones. Let us pray together and always for peace,” added the Pontiff. In the catechesis that was read at the beginning of the audience, the cycle of reflections on the theme of “Vices and Virtues” continued, dedicated today to the third of the cardinal virtues, fortitude (reference reading, recited this morning in the various languages: Psalm 31,2.4.25). This virtue is fundamental, Bergoglio stated, “because it takes seriously the challenge of evil in the world.” And that is before the eyes of all the people of the world. They are “the horrors of which we are partly victims and partly protagonists: wars, violence, slavery, oppression of the poor, wounds that have never healed and that still bleed.” In fact, to find them “you just have to look through a history book, or, unfortunately, even the newspapers,” he said.

The presence of these wounds is evident in everyday life: the news that comes from war zones, and not only them, is full. The virtue of fortitude “makes us react and shout a resounding 'no' to all this,” Pope Francis explained. And then he referred to “our comfortable West, which has watered down everything a little” and “does not need to fight because everything seems the same to it,” he added. Living in the West of the world runs the risk of living comfortably, of losing sight of the “path that makes us progress in life.” To avoid this, we urgently need “uncomfortable and visionary people,” who are very rare but indispensable to “resolutely repeat our 'no' to evil and everything that leads to indifference,” the Bishop of Rome insisted.

In the greeting dedicated to Italian-speaking pilgrims, Francis addressed especially “the priests, seminarians and faithful of Sardinia, gathered here for the ad limina visit of their bishops.” He also noted that present at the audience were “the Pallottine religious and the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, whom I entrust to the intercession of their respective founders, Saint Vincent Pallotti and Blessed Clelia Merloni.” The Pope then addressed the young, the sick, the elderly and the newlyweds. “I hope that the consoling light of the Easter announcement grows in your hearts,” he told them, making the echo of the Holy Easter that was celebrated two Sundays ago resonate once again. A light “that invites us to strengthen faith and hope in Jesus crucified and resurrected.”

Fortitude is “the most combative of virtues,” said the Holy Father at the beginning of the catechesis. “A Christian without courage, who does not adhere his own strength to good, who does not bother anyone, is a useless Christian,” he stated. Because human beings experience passions “that must be educated, must be directed, must be purified with the water of Baptism, or, better yet, with the fire of the Holy Spirit.” Jesus himself “had passions,” he continued. He then explained that since ancient times it has been recognized that this virtue has “a double movement, one passive and one active.” The first “is directed towards the interior of ourselves. There are internal enemies that we have to defeat, which respond to the name of anxiety, anguish, fear, guilt.” The second movement refers to “external enemies, which are the trials of life, the persecutions, the difficulties that we did not expect and that surprise us.” In that sea of ​​life, shaken by the waves, strength “makes us sailors who resist, who do not get scared or discouraged.”