Photo: Associated Press
The Pontiff spoke at a meeting of leaders of world religions.
Pope Francis made a statement about the danger of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine during a three-day conference organized by the Italian community of Sant'Egidio. Writes about it "Voice of America".
On October 25, Francis in his speech, compared the current situation in the world with the Caribbean crisis 60 years ago.
The pontiff urged politicians to make diplomatic efforts to avert the threat of a nuclear strike.
Francis denounced today's "gloomy scenario where, bitterly to admit,
the plans of influential world leaders do not consider the just hopes of the peoples."
“Today, in fact, the threat of what we feared and hoped would never return is obvious: the use of nuclear weapons, which even after Hiroshima and Nagasaki continue to be produced and felt in vain,†he said of the possibility of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Francis recalled how on October 25, 1962, in the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Pope Ivan XXIII made a radio address to the leaders of that time, calling for the world to be pulled back from the brink.
“Today, the world is seriously disturbed, attacked, and trampled, and this is in Europe, on the same continent that experienced the horrors of two world wars in the last century,†he said.
According to him, unfortunately, wars have continued since then, causing bloodshed and leading to "the impoverishment of the Earth." However, he called the situation that the world is going through now "particularly dramatic."
The final address at the conference, read by a Syrian refugee, called for a ban on nuclear weapons production.
The conference, which took place downtown in the suburbs of Rome, was opened on Sunday by French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
