"War is madness, please stop": Pope Francis calls for peace in Ukraine Pope Francis on March 6, 2022, made a heartfelt plea for an end to the fighting in Ukraine that has left what he called "rivers of blood and tears" flowing in the country.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is the continent's largest conflict since World War II. According to the United Nations refugee agency, an estimated 1.5 million people have fled the nation in the ten days since Russia began its assault.
In the early morning hours of February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin started what he described as a "special military operation." The pope expressed his opposition to Russia's use of the name.
"This is not a military operation, but a war," Pope Francis stated. "It sows death, ruin, and misery." "As the number of victims grows, so does the number of people fleeing, particularly women and children."
The pope urged for diplomatic dialogue to cease the assault in his message, adding that he hoped for "common reason to prevail." Additionally, the pope mentioned that two cardinals have been to Ukraine to aid those in need.
"This presence of two cardinals reflects not only the pope's presence, but also the presence of all Christians who wish to get closer and proclaim 'war is madness,'" Francis remarked. "Please pause and consider this atrocity."
More than Blaming Russians
Putin's soldiers attacked by land, sea, and air within moments after announcing his "special military operation" to "de-Nazify" a democracy of 44 million people who happened to elect a Jewish president. And the lunacy continued from there.
Deaths rapidly numbered in the dozens, and will likely number in the hundreds by the time you read this. Regrettably, Putin deployed mobile crematoriums with the military he claims are tasked with "demilitarizing" Ukraine. Is he attempting to conceal his personal casualties or the number of innocents slaughtered by his forces?
Thousands of innocent civilians fled on foot as missiles landed throughout the country and shells exploded in over a dozen locations. Miles of traffic flowed out of major cities. Ukrainians waited in line to withdraw cash from ATMs and purchase supplies — as well as to take up arms in defense of their independence.
Surprisingly, Russian military cheerfully allowed CNN to capture their assault on an airfield on the outskirts of Kiev. Later same day, Putin's forces seized Chernobyl, the site of the 1986 nuclear tragedy caused by the old Soviet Union's dysfunction, which Putin regards as one of history's great disasters.
Meanwhile, Western governments have decried Putin's wholly unprovoked conquest war and announced penalties against Russia — but not against its energy sector.
And Alfons Mais, Germany's army chief, declared on LinkedIn, of all places, "The Bundeswehr, the army I am honored to lead, is more or less empty-handed." "We all saw it coming," he lamented, "but we were incapable of concluding our arguments, of drawing implications from the Crimean annexation and implementing them."
That's eight years squandered since Putin demonstrated his hand in Crimea, years during which Germany increased its reliance on Russian oil and gas with open eyes.
As Ukrainian official Mykhailo Podolyak put it, "Russia is now attacking not only Ukraine, but also the rules of modern life."
And this is only the start. Over a century after Europe plummeted into the carnage of World War I, the beacons of peace and progress have dimmed once more.
Learning from History
At an individual level, humans have learnt that we cannot be barbaric and let “might is right” rule the day in our daily routine. As a society, we have learnt that we cannot let the powerful get what they want by violent means.
Unless we extend the same moral principles to organisations and nations, our human destiny is at stake.
As human beings and societies, there will always be differences of opinions and perceptions. We need to resolve them and move on. But violence and murdering the other is not going to resolve the problem. We need to recognise officially that might or violence does not resolve our difference or solve our problem.
That can come only through a collective search, based on negotiations. Religious principles can help there. The truth that we collectively seek can come to the aid. But never war or violence. As a society we need to realise that war and murder (even the killing of one person) can never make our society safe and secure. Only the non-violence practise by the Father of our Nation can.
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