Pope Francis: Stop Colonizing People With Weapons!
Pope Francis, Dec. 2024. X/ @carmelite1956
December 26, 2024 Hour: 9:38 am
‘The issue of debt is linked to peace and the black market for arms… Let’s work for disarmament’, the Pope said.
On Thursday, Pope Francis urged an end to “colonizing peoples with arms” and called for support for an international campaign aimed at forgiving the “unsustainable and unjust” public debts of certain nations.
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Speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace after the Angelus prayer, Francis explained that “one of the actions that characterizes Jubilees (like the one to be celebrated in 2025) is promoting debt forgiveness.”
He appealed to governments to support Caritas Internationalis’ campaign, which aims “to transform debt into hope by relieving nations burdened by unsustainable debt and fostering development.”
“The issue of debt is linked to peace and the black market for arms. Enough with colonizing peoples with weapons. Let us work for disarmament, against hunger, against disease, and against child labor,” the Pope said.
Caritas Internationalis, along with religious organizations and civil society groups, launched the campaign “Convert Debt into Hope”, emphasizing that “unsustainable and unjust public debts deprive nations of the resources needed to invest in health, education, climate action, and the future of young people, trapping entire generations in cycles of poverty and inequality.”
Francis also renewed his call for global peace, specifically mentioning Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Myanmar, and North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In today’s message, on the Feast of St. Stephen—the first Christian martyr—the Pope lamented that “unfortunately, even today, in various parts of the world, many men and women are persecuted, sometimes to the point of death, because of the Gospel.”
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
