In his Wednesday General Audience today, Pope Francis called for “antibodies” of solidarity to heal “systems of injustice” and “oppression”, and warned that “solidarity today is the road to take towards a post-pandemic world, towards the healing of our interpersonal and social sicknesses”.
Caritas has shared its deep concerns on the dire side effects that EU sanctions are having on vulnerable civilian populations in the Middle East.
At the Angelus today, Pope Francis sounded the alarm on the coronavirus economic crisis, imploring that summer holidays in the northern hemisphere “should not allow us to forget the problems there are due to Covid: many families do not have work, have lost work, and have nothing to eat”.
The Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church have expressed their “spiritual solidarity” with Lebanon after the “great desolation” caused by the blasts in the port of Beirut on August 4.
“On behalf of all the Bishops of the European Union, I share the drama and sadness of the people of Beirut following the horrific and deadly explosions in the port of the capital of Lebanon”, the president of the Commission of the Bishops of the EU (COMECE), Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, has said.
During his Angelus address at midday today, Pope Francis pleaded for a world “completely free of nuclear weapons” and a commitment to make Lebanon – still reeling after last Tuesday’s blast in the port in Beirut – “free and strong”.
In a gesture of solidarity with the people of Lebanon, Pope Francis has donated 250,000 euros as an initial help to assist the Church there in these moments of difficulty and suffering.