Pope Francis Says His Thoughts Are with War-torn Ukraine on Feast of the Holy Cross

Vatican, 14 September, 2022 / 8:25 PM

Pope Francis said that his thoughts are with Ukraine on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. 

Speaking at a large outdoor Mass in Kazakhstan’s capital of Nur-Sultan on Sept. 14, the pope said he was thinking of “all the war-torn areas of our world, particularly beloved Ukraine.”

“May we never grow accustomed to war, or resigned to its inevitability. Let us come to the aid of those who suffer and insist that genuine efforts be made to achieve peace,” the pope said.

“What still needs to happen, and how many deaths will it still take, before conflict yields to dialogue for the good of people, nations and all humanity?”

Pope Francis celebrated an outdoor Mass in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, on Sept. 14, 2022. Rudolf Gehrig / CNA

He said: “We have been reborn from the pierced side of the crucified Jesus. May we be free of the poison of death, and pray that by God’s grace we can become ever more fully Christian: joyful witnesses of new life, love, and peace.”

The people of Kazakhstan were likely first evangelized by Franciscan missionaries in the 13th century. The Catholic population grew thanks to deportations of believers from across the Soviet Union. Religious believers suffered active persecution when it was part of the Soviet Union; today, it is an officially secular state where religious freedom is tolerated.

Participants at the outdoor Mass in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, on Sept. 14, 2022. Rudolf Gehrig / CNA

Pope Francis recalled the “violence and atheist persecution” that Christians in Kazakhstan endured. He said that God, in response to the spread of evil in the world, “gave us Jesus.”

He said: “Confronting our misery, God gives us a new horizon: if we keep our gaze fixed on Jesus, the sting of evil can no longer prevail over us, for on the cross he took upon himself the venom of sin and death, and crushed their destructive power.”