Pope Francis reiterated his appeal for peace in Ukraine, Gaza and the world's other theaters of conflict, lamenting the "madness" of the young lives lost due to war during his weekly general audience on Wednesday.
"Let us please persevere in fervent prayer for those who suffer the terrible consequences of war," the Argentine pontiff said at the end of the audience.
"Today they brought me the rosary and the new testament of a young soldier who died at the front - he prayed with it.
"So many young men, so many young men, go to die.
"Let us pray to the Lord to give us the grace to overcome this madness of war, which is always a defeat".
Francis said that he still has "a bit of a cold", after suffering flu-like symptoms for over two weeks, and again asked for help to read out his lesson during the general audience.
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