Pope Francis, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has for the first time directly pleaded with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the “spiral of violence and death” in Ukraine, warning that the crisis could turn nuclear and have far-reaching consequences for the rest of the world, Charmingpro reports.
On Sunday, October 2, Francis delivered an address dedicated to Ukraine to thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square, condemning Putin’s latest annexation of parts of Ukraine and urging Putin to consider his own people in the event of an escalation.
Francis’ speech was similar to Pope John XXIII’s radio peace appeal during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
Francis made a direct personal appeal to Putin for the first time.
“I’m haunted by rivers of blood and tears spilled in these months,” she says.
“In the name of God, end the conflict.” It is absurd that the world was on the verge of nuclear war.
“My appeal goes above all to the Russian Federation’s president, begging him to stop this spiral of violence and death, even out of love for his own people,” Francis said.