0
0
Pope Francis’ message to Al Arabiya Network
The Al Arabiya Network is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channal
Dear Friends,
Thank you for this opportunity to address you at the end of Ramadan.
This year, by a happy coincidence, the holy month, sacred to Islam, ends just a few days after the celebration of Easter, the most important religious feast for Christians.
This happy occasion, which invites us to raise our eyes to heaven and to worship the Lord, “merciful and almighty” (Nostra Aetate, 3), contrasts sharply with the sorrow we feel for the blood pthat is currently being shed in the blessed lands of the Middle East.
Brothers and sisters, our father Abraham raised his eyes to the heavens and looked at the stars.
The light of life that shines all around us and embraces us from on high, calls us to leave behind the dark night of hatred, so that, according to the Creator’s will, the stars may shine brightly on our world, instead of the glare of missiles that light up the sky and rain down fire to devastate the earth!
God is peace and he desires peace. Those who believe in him cannot fail to reject war, which does not resolve hostilities but only increases them.
War, as I never tire of saying, is always and only a failure.
It is a road that leads nowhere. It does not open new vistas but stifles all hope.
I suffer greatly from the conflict in Palestine and Israel. May there be an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, where a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding.
May aid be allowed to reach the Palestinian people who are suffering greatly, and may the hostages taken in October be released!
I am also thinking of war-torn Syria, Lebanon and the whole of the Middle East.
Let us not allow the flames of resentment, fanned by the evil winds of the arms race, to spread!
Let us not allow war to spread! Let us put an end to the inertia of evil!
I think constantly of the families, the young people, the workers, the elderly and the children.
I am sure that in their hearts, in the hearts of ordinary people, there is a great desire for peace.
And that, in the midst of the violence that is spreading, there are tears in their eyes and a single word on their lips: Enough!
I myself repeat this word to those who bear the heavy responsibility of governing nations. Enough! Stop!
Please, stop the clash of arms and think of the children, all the children, as your own!
Let us all look to the future with the eyes of children.
They do not ask ‘who is the enemy to be destroyed’, but ‘who are the friends with whom they can play’. They need homes, parks and schools, not tombs and mass graves.
Friends, I believe that deserts can flower: as in nature, so too in the hearts of individuals and in the lives of peoples.
But the deserts of hatred can give birth to shoots of hope
only if we learn how to grow together, side by side;
only if we learn to respect the beliefs of others;
only if we recognize the right of every people to exist and the right of every people to have its own State;
only if we learn how to live in peace without demonizing anyone.
That is my conviction and my hope, which I share with the Christians who live throughout the Middle East in the midst of many difficulties.
I embrace them and I encourage them, and I ask that they enjoy always and everywhere the right and ability to profess freely their faith, which speaks of peace and fraternity.
I thank you for your attention. I greet you with affection and I assure you that the Middle East continues to have a special place in my heart.
I wish each of you all well and the blessings of the Most High. Shukran! (Thank you!)
From the Vatican, 12 April 2024 FRANCIS
