On Sunday, April 10, at the end of Holy Mass on Palm Sunday, Pope Francis led the Virgin Mary prayer "The Angel of the Lord" and addressed the many pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, once again urging peace in Ukraine, Vatican News reported.
"During the Annunciation, the Angel of the Lord said to Mary: No word will remain powerless with God. Nothing is impossible for God, even to stop a war that has no end in sight - a war because of which every day we have before our eyes horrific mass murders and atrocities against defenseless civilians. Let us pray for it," the pontiff said.
He recalled that the world is on the eve of Catholic Easter and is preparing "to celebrate the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ over sin and death - over sin and death, not over someone and against someone."
"Today, however, the war goes on, for people want to win just this way, in a worldly way; but one can only lose that way. Why not let God win? Christ bore the Cross to deliver us from the power of evil; He died so that life, love and peace might reign. Let the weapons be laid down, let the Easter truce begin, but not to reload the weapons and renew the fight, not at all! Let there be a truce to achieve peace through real negotiations, with a willingness even to make some concessions for the good of the people. Indeed, what kind of victory would it be to plant a flag on a pile of rubble? Nothing is impossible for God. Let us trust in Him through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary," declared the Bishop of Rome.
