ROME – As part of an appeal for peace and an end to the global arms trade, Pope Francis in praying for an end to global conflicts lamented the rising death count in Ukraine and called attacks on Palestine “inhumane.”
Speaking during his Oct. 23 general audience, the pope urged attendees to “pray for peace.”
“Today, early in the morning I received the statistics of those who have died in Ukraine. It’s terrible,” he said.
Recent estimates put the number of those who have died since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion in February 2022 at over one million.
Last month the Wall Street Journal, citing intelligence and unnamed sources, estimated that roughly one million Russians and Ukrainians had been killed since the war began, with the majority of the casualties being soldiers on both sides, followed by civilians.
“War never forgives, war is a defeat from the beginning. Let us pray to the Lord for peace, that he gives peace to everyone, to all of us,” the pope said in his remarks Wednesday, urging believers to also pray for an end to the conflict in Myanmar and in Gaza.
“Let us not forget Palestine, which is suffering inhumane attacks,” he said, and also offered prayers for Israel and for “all nations that are at war.”
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza estimates that so far around 42,718 people have been killed since the war between Israel and Palestine broke out following last year’s Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants on Israel, though the actual number is difficult to determine.
Many of those killed have been civilians, including children, and a lack of humanitarian aid in Gaza has brought much of the population to the brink of famine, while lacking other basic resources such as gas and medical supplies.
Pope Francis said the fact that the most lucrative investments in the current global market come from the arms trade “should startle us.”
“To earn with death. Let us pray for peace, all together,” he said.
