Vatican City, 21 April (EFE) .- Pope Francis today joined UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ call for Russia and Ukraine to sign a four-day truce and end fighting on the occasion of Orthodox Easter.
A statement from the Vatican said the Pope had already asked for an Easter peace on Palm Sunday and is now joining Guterres and the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Svyatoslav Shevchuk, in calling for it to be carried out during the Orthodox Easter celebrations. which starts on April 24th.
“Knowing that nothing is impossible for God, they call on the Lord to evacuate the people trapped in the war zones and to restore peace soon, and they ask the leaders of the nations to listen to the peoples’ cry for peace “, says the appeal of the Vatican.
The UN Secretary-General had said that this ceasefire, coordinated with the International Committee of the Red Cross, would serve to evacuate civilians and encourage the entry of humanitarian aid to the “most affected” populations of eastern Ukraine, mainly Mariupol, Kherson, and Donetsk Luhansk.
Guterres said leaders of Ukraine’s main faiths supported his call but made no mention of the response from Russia, its government or its churches.
For his part, Francis has urged to lay down arms and achieve “an Easter peace”, but not to rearm, but “to achieve peace through genuine negotiations, also willing to make some sacrifices for the good of the people”.