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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Pope prays for an end to war in Ukraine

Junno Arocho Esteves
Pope Francis is pictured during a meeting with students from Milan in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican March 16, 2022. The pope prayed for children in Ukraine who are forced to flee from bombings.
Pope Francis is pictured during a meeting with students from Milan in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican March 16, 2022. The pope prayed for children in Ukraine who are forced to flee from bombings. CNS photo/Stefano Dal Pozzolo, pool

Asking God to forgive all people tempted by violence, Pope Francis prayed for an end to the war in Ukraine and the fratricidal killing of both combatants and civilians caught in the crossfire.

“Forgive us Lord if we continue to kill our brother. Forgive us, Lord, if we continue to kill our brother, if we continue, like Cain, to take the stones from our field to kill Abel,” the pope prayed March 16 before concluding his weekly general audience.

“Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, we implore you to stop the hand of Cain, enlighten our conscience, let not our will be done, do not abandon us to our own doing,” he prayed. “Stop us, Lord, stop us, and when you have stopped the hand of Cain, take care of him also. He is our brother.”

The prayer for peace in Ukraine that the pope recited was composed by Italian Archbishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples and titled, “Forgive us for the war, Lord.”

The prayer compared the suffering of Jesus to those who were “born under the bombs of Kyiv,” those lying “dead in the arms of a mother in Kharkiv” and the “20-year-olds sent to the front line.”

“Forgive us if, not content with the nails with which we pierced your hand, we continue to drink from the blood of the dead torn apart by weapons,” said the prayer recited by the pope. “Forgive us if these hands that you had created to protect, have been turned into instruments of death.”

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He concluded the prayer by asking forgiveness from God for those who “legitimize cruelty” through violence and prayed for an end to the war through divine intervention.

“O Lord, stop the violence. Stop us, Lord,” he prayed.

Before the general audience, Pope Francis met with students from the “La Zolla,” a lay-run Catholic school in Milan. After addressing the children, the pope departed from his prepared remarks and asked the young students to think about the boys and girls suffering in Ukraine.

“They are like you — 6, 7, 14 years old,” he said. “You have a future ahead of you, the security of growing up in a peaceful society. Instead, these little ones must flee from the bombs, they are suffering so much with the cold weather there.”

Asking the students to join him in prayer, Pope Francis closed his eyes and lowered his head, praying to God to protect the children caught in the war who “do not have anything to eat” and are forced to flee their homes.

“Lord Jesus, look at these children, these boys and girls. Look upon them and protect them. They are the victims of our pride, of us adults. Lord Jesus, bless these children and protect them,” Pope Francis said before leading the students in praying a Hail Mary.


Here is the CNS translation of the prayer for peace Pope Francis recited at his weekly general audience March 16. The prayer was composed by Archbishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples.

Forgive us for the war, Lord.

Lord Jesus, son of God, have mercy on us sinners.

Lord Jesus, born under the bombs of Kyiv, have mercy on us.

Lord Jesus, dead in the arms of a mother in Kharkiv, have mercy on us.

Lord Jesus, in the 20-year-olds sent to the frontline, have mercy on us.

Lord Jesus, who continues to see hands armed with weapons under the shadow of the cross, forgive us, Lord.

Forgive us if, not content with the nails with which we pierced your hand, we continue to drink from the blood of the dead torn apart by weapons.

Forgive us if these hands that you had created to protect have been turned into instruments of death.

Forgive us, Lord, if we continue to kill our brother. Forgive us, Lord, if we continue to kill our brother, if we continue like Cain to take the stones from our field to kill Abel.

Forgive us if we go out of our way to justify cruelty, if, in our pain, we legitimize the cruelty of our actions. Forgive us the war, Lord.

Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, we implore you to stop the hand of Cain, enlighten our conscience, let not our will be done, do not abandon us to our own doing. Stop us, Lord, stop us, and when you have stopped the hand of Cain, take care of him also. He is our brother.

O Lord, stop the violence. Stop us, Lord. Amen.

 


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