Pope Francis supported the initiative of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who on Monday called for a global ceasefire on the planet to allow people to cope with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
“I join those who approved this appeal, and I invite everyone to follow it, ending all forms of hostilities, helping to create corridors for humanitarian assistance, turning to diplomacy, attention to those who are in the most vulnerable situation”, – said the pontiff, addressing with a traditional Sunday sermon to believers.
Pope Francis expressed hope that the general opposition to the spread of coronavirus will allow people to feel themselves again as “members of a single human family”, and the leaders of individual nations and individual conflicting parties to overcome the rivalry.
“Conflicts cannot be resolved through war! It is necessary to overcome antagonism and contradictions through dialogue and a constructive search for peace”, – the Pope said.
The pontiff again addressed the faithful not from the window of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, but through a live webcast from the papal library, as he first did on Sunday, March 8. The greeting of the Pope was broadcast by the Vatican News Holy See information portal.
The World Health Organization on March 11 announced an outbreak of a new coronavirus infection COVID-19 with a pandemic. According to the latest WHO data, more than 570 thousand cases of infection have been recorded in the world, more than 26 thousand people have died.