‘Hurricane of violence’ in Ukraine must cease

Speaking to the many pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter’s Square for the General Audience on Wednesday, 12 October, the Holy Father made an appeal for war-torn Ukraine.

“In these days my heart is always with the Ukrainian people, especially the inhabitants of those places where the bombardments have been raging. I carry within me their pain and, by the intercession of the Holy Mother of God, I present it in prayer to the Lord. He always listens to the cry of the poor who invoke him: may his Spirit transform the hearts of those who hold the outcome of the war in their hands, so that the hurricane of violence may cease, and peaceful coexistence, in justice, may be rebuilt”.