Pope Francis today asked those who have an “interest” in wars to “listen to the voice of conscience” at the end of the year and have “the courage” to ask themselves how many lives have been lost in these conflicts.
“At the end of the year, let us have the courage to ask ourselves how many lives armed conflicts have claimed, how many deaths, how much destruction and suffering or how much poverty,” asked the pontiff after praying the Angelus at the window of the Apostolic Palace, adding: ” “Whoever is interested in these conflicts must listen to the voice of conscience.”
The Pope had already lamented the wave of violence that shook Nigeria this Christmas and asked God to free the country “from these horrors” and remembered the “martyrs” of Ukraine, Israel, Palestine and Sudan, also asking not to forget the Rohingya . The Muslim ethnic group in Myanmar is subject to persecution and harassment.
During the Angelus message, Pope Francis also asked parents if in their daily lives they “find time” to play with their children.
“I ask you, fathers and mothers, if you find time to play with your children or take them for a walk. Yesterday I spoke to someone on the phone and asked her where she was. She responded that she was on the street with her children. It’s parenting and a beautiful motherhood,” he said.
Francis reflected on this issue before the last prayer of the Angelus and on the last day of the year, on which the Catholic Church celebrates the Holy Family, and recommended maintaining “the capacity for wonder” so that family relationships are positive.
“The ability to be surprised can be a secret to getting along as a family, without getting used to the normality of things,” he warned from the window of the Apostolic Palace to the nearly 20,000 faithful who listened to him in St. Peter’s Square. , according to data from the Vatican Gendarmerie.
Francisco stated that “it is good for couples to know how to surprise themselves with their own spouse, for example, by holding their hand or looking into their eyes for a moment, at night, with tenderness.”
Source: TSF
