Although the terrible news coming out of the Holy Land in recent months, and now the death of Russian dissident Navalny, have overshadowed the reports of the war from Ukraine, today we wish to remember. We have been doing so in recent days by giving voice to witnesses, to those who do not give in to the logic of hatred, to those who continue to pray and continue to act to alleviate the suffering of a population crashed by twenty-four months of bombing. We have been doing so by letting the numbers speak for themselves, because the stark reality of what is happening, which is so often now far from the spotlight, describes the absurd inhumanity of this war. Tens of thousands of lives are being sacrificed to conquer a few kilometers of territory, tens of thousands of men – young and old – are wounded or maimed, entire Ukrainian cities have been razed to the ground, millions of displaced people are living abroad, thousands of mines are set to undermine the future lives of the innocent population… What more needs to happen for the aggression to stop and for us to sit around the table to negotiate a just peace?
Pope Francis’ countless appeals to draw attention to “battered Ukraine” have been left to fall on deaf ears. War and violence seem to have become the way to resolve disputes. The arms race with a view to future wars is now a given and is also accepted as inescapable. The money that can never be found to build kindergartens and schools, to fund health care that works, to fight hunger, or to foster the ecological transition by having the preservation of our planet at heart, is always available when it comes to armaments. Diplomacy appears mute in the face of belligerent sirens. Words such as peace, negotiation, truce, dialogue, are looked upon with suspicion. Very little has been heard from Europe, beyond the solitary prominence of individual leaders.
Never more than at this moment is there a need to not give in to the logic of war. There is a need to continue to invoke from God the gift of peace, as the Successor of Peter tirelessly continues to do, knowing how to discern the embers of hope smoldering under the ever-thickening blanket of the ashes of hatred. There is a need for new prophetic, creative, and free leadership, capable of daring, betting on peace, and taking charge of the future of humanity. There is a need for the responsible commitment of all in making the voice of those who do not surrender to the “Cain-ist” logic of the “warlords” that threatens to lead us toward self-destruction heard with strength and determination, Vatican news writes.
