"Next Saturday 27 January we will celebrate the International Day of Commemoration of the Victims of the Holocaust. May the memory and condemnation of that horrible extermination of millions of Jewish people and those of other faiths which occurred in the first half of the last century help everyone
not to forget that the logic of hatred and violence can never be justified because they deny our very humanity
."
The Pope said this at the end of the general audience.
Bergoglio then made a new appeal for peace because "war itself, he said, is a denial of humanity. Let us not tire of praying for peace, for conflicts to end, for weapons to stop and for exhausted populations to be helped I think of the
Middle East
,
Palestine
,
Israel
, I think of the disturbing news coming from the tormented
Ukraine
, especially the bombings that hit places frequented by civilians, sowing death, destruction and suffering. I pray for the victims and their loved ones and I implore everyone, especially those with political responsibility, to safeguard human life by putting an end to wars".
"Let's not forget:
war is always a defeat
, always. Only the manufacturers of weapons 'win'."
Again during the general audience, continuing the catechesis on vices and virtues and focusing today's reflection on avarice, the Pope recalled that "no matter how much a person accumulates goods in this world, we are absolutely certain of one thing: that in coffin they will not enter."
"Here the senselessness of this vice is revealed. The bond of possession that we build with things is only apparent, because we are not the masters of the world: this land that we love is in truth not ours, and we move on it as strangers and pilgrims", underlined the Pontiff.
And "these simple considerations make us understand the madness of
avarice
, but also its most hidden reason. It is
an attempt to exorcise the fear of death
: it seeks certainties that in reality crumble the moment we grasp them", he said. concluded Pope Francis.
The thieves' behavior is "censorable" but at the same time it can be "a healthy warning" against the vice of avarice, he added.
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