St. Volodymyr's Parish

Repeating his recent calls for peace in the Middle East, Pope Francis has urged Christians to wage a "deeper war” against evil, including the illegal arms trade that he said drives much of the world’s military conflict, reports The Catholic Herald.

The Pope made his remarks on Sunday before praying the noon Angelus with a crowd in St Peter’s Square, where the previous evening he had led a four-hour vigil for peace in Syria, the Middle East and the world.

The Pope said: 'This war against evil means saying no to fratricidal hatred, and to the lies that it uses; saying no to violence in all its forms; saying no to the proliferation of arms and their sale on the black market.'

'There are so many of them!' he said of black market weapons. 'And the doubt always remains: This war over there, this other war over there — because there are wars everywhere — is it really a war over problems, or is it a commercial war, to sell these arms on the black market?'

'These are the enemies we must fight, united and coherent, following no other interests but those of peace and the common good,' he said.

Following the Angelus, Pope Francis thanked those who had participated in the vigil on Saturday evening, which drew an estimated 100,000 to the square.

FULL COVERAGE

Pope calls for war against 'evil' illegal arms trade (The Catholic Herald)

'No to wars waged to sell arms' (Vatican Insider)

Pope Francis continues peace appeals on Twitter (CNA)

Aid agencies fear increase in Syrian refugees if US strikes (CNS)

source: CathNews