Catholic Cardinal warns: We must put an end to war before it puts an end to us
Catholic Cardinal Matteo Zuppi has warned world leaders to end wars raging in different parts of the world.
The man of God who spoke at St Peter’s Square where he addressed over 40,000 Italian youths warned that if humanity fails to end wars, wars will end humanity.
Zuppi who is the President of Italian Bishops Conference said he is pained by the pointless deaths from pointless wars.
“Humanity must put an end to war, or war will put an end to humanity.” That’s how, during his homily, Cardinal Zuppi responded to a videomessage from the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and to the reading from the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus gives Peter the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.
The leader of Italy’s bishops turned his thoughts to the “mad crosses built by men who manufacture weapons to kill,” destroying everything that gives life, including hospitals. “The Church,” he lamented, “stands under the Cross, eyes full of tears and a heart wounded by such immense suffering.”
Today, Zuppi noted, there are countless pointless deaths, countless wars. He recalled the words of Pope Leo XIII shortly after his election, when he called for a peace that is both “unarmed and disarming”.
Building on this, Cardinal Zuppi issued a heartfelt appeal: “Let us disarm our hearts, so we can disarm the hearts and hands of a violent world—to heal its wounds and prevent new conflicts!”
Cardinal Zuppi expressed his concern over a world where it has become normal to think of others as enemies—or to imagine we can live without them entirely. He also decried our frightening, reckless indifference to the unimaginable power of nuclear weapons.
Continuing the prelate told his audience who gathered to celebrate the Jubilee of the youth…
“Feel embraced this evening by the entire Church, which looks upon the freshness and spontaneity of your lives with joy, sympathy, and trust.”
Story: Courtesy Vatican News
