Pope Francis said on Wednesday that “history repeats itself” in Ukraine as he recalled the anniversary of the secret plan the Nazis launched in World War II to exterminate Polish Jews, known as “Operation Reinhard”.
“Last Monday, the Center for Catholic-Jewish Relations at the Catholic University of Lublin celebrated the anniversary of ‘Operation Reinhard’, which led to the extermination of nearly two million victims, the majority of Jewish descent, during World War II. . World May the memory of this terrible event inspires all intentions and actions for peace,” the pope said at a general audience.
While greeting the Polish faithful, Francis added: “History repeats itself, we see what is happening now in Ukraine”.
Francis concluded the audience by asking the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, whose feast is celebrated on Thursday, to “give consolation to all those affected by the cruelty of war” and “particularly to martyred Ukraine”, in addition to urging the faithful to pray for the Ukrainian people “tortured” and “suffering so”.
In the prologue to a recently published book of his appeals for peace in Ukraine, the pope encouraged the faithful to “pray persistently for peace in Ukraine, truly without getting tired, we must not get used to this war like any other Others”.
“We must not allow our hearts and minds to become numb with the repetition of these ghastly horrors against God and man. We must not, for whatever reason, become accustomed to all this, as we take it almost for granted that this fragmented World War III , which escalated dramatically before our eyes into all-out Third World War,” the pope underlined.
Source: DN
