Vatican City - Thousands of people waited for Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square, although the Pope made no mention of the 10th anniversary of his election as pope, he could not escape the cheers from the crowd.

Long live the pope!

Pope Francis encouraged the pilgrims to participate in the celebration of "24 hours for the Lord" this Friday and Saturday. It is a penitential celebration that the Holy Father will preside over in a parish in Rome.

The 24-hour initiative traditionally takes place on the Friday before the fourth Sunday of Lent. Last year, the event was marked by prayers for peace in Ukraine. During the 24 hours, Pope Francis speaks on the importance of repentance and is usually the first to go to confession.

He recalled that in the same celebration last year, he consecrated Russia and Ukraine to Our Lady to ask for peace and the end of the invasion.

The Lord always listens to the requests that his people address to him through the intercession of the Virgin Mother said Pope Francis. Let us remain united in faith and in solidarity with our brothers who suffer because of the war. Above all, let us not forget the suffering Ukrainian people.

Popecast

In the "Popecast” a podcast produced by the Vatican media on the tenth anniversary of Pope Francis’ pontificate, the Holy Father told of how he never imagined he would be “the Pope at the time of the Third World War", he spoke of the most beautiful memory as being that the meeting with the elderly people in St Peter's Square and sais: “What I didn't want to see were the boys who died in wars".

Asked about what he does would like to share with the world on the occasion of this milestone for his life and ministry, Pope Francis said,

“Time flies… it's in a hurry. When you want to grasp today, it is already yesterday. To live like this is something new. These ten years have been like this: living in tension.”

Of the thousands of audiences, the hundreds of visits to dioceses and parishes, the forty apostolic journeys to every corner of the globe, he identifies "the most beautiful moment" as the meeting in St Peter's Square with the elderly, the audience with grandparents from all over the world on 28 September 2014.

“Old people are wisdom and they help me so much. I too am old, am I not?”

However, there have also been several bad moments and they are all related to the horror of war. First the visits to the war cemeteries in Redipuglia and Anzio, the commemoration of the landing of the allies in Normandy, the vigil to stop the war in Syria, and now, the barbarity that has been going on for over a year in Ukraine.

“Behind the wars, there is the arms industry, this is diabolical,” Pope Francis says.

He says that he, a bishop that “came from the end of the earth” did not expect to become the Pope who would lead the Universal Church in the time of World War III: “ wasn’t expecting it. I thought Syria was going to be unique, then came the others”.

“It makes me suffer to see young men dying – be they Russian or Ukrainian, I don't care - not coming back. It is hard.”

Jorge Mario Bergoglio has no doubts about what to ask of the world as a gift for this important anniversary: “Peace, we need peace”.

Hence, three words for the Pope's “three dreams” for the Church, for the world and for those who govern the world, for humanity

“Fraternity weeping, smiling...”
-Romereports/VN