Pope Leo XIV called for prayer for peace this Sunday, expressing his closeness to Ukraine and the people of Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, countries ravaged by war and violence.
“Last Friday, August 22, we accompanied with our prayer and fasting our brothers and sisters who suffer from war,” the Holy Father recalled after the Angelus prayer this Sunday at the Vatican.
“Today we join our Ukrainian brothers and sisters who, with a spiritual initiative and worldwide prayer for Ukraine, ask the Lord to grant peace to their martyred country,” he encouraged.
Ukraine celebrates its Independence Day this Sunday, commemorating the historic special session of the Ukrainian Parliament on August 24, 1991, which led to an immediate declaration of independence from the Soviet Union, which was then under siege by an ultimately failed coup attempt.
The country is celebrating its independence amid difficult peace negotiations brokered by US President Donald Trump, who met last week with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, at a summit in the US state of Alaska without any concrete progress.
DO NOT FORGET CABO DELGADO IN MOZAMBIQUE
The Pope also remembered the people of Cabo Delgado, in Mozambique, “victims of a situation of insecurity and violence that continues to cause horrific deaths,” he said.
“I appeal to you not to forget these brothers and sisters of ours, I invite you to pray for them, and I express the hope that the efforts of the country’s leaders will succeed in restoring security and peace to that territory,” he emphasized.
