Ukraine, nukes and Iran in Pope’s annual ‘state of the world’ speech

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Wars are “a crime against God and humanity,” Pope Francis said

Pope Francis said today that wars like the one in Ukraine, where civilian areas are subject to what he called “indiscriminate destruction” are “a crime against God and humanity”.

Francis made the remarks during his annual address to accredited diplomats at the Vatican, in an overview of the situation around the world known informally as the “state of the world” address.

Francis spoke of “the war in Ukraine with its attendant death and destruction, with attacks on civilian infrastructure causing loss of life not only from gunfire and acts of violence, but also from hunger and sub-zero temperatures.”

He then immediately quoted a passage from the Vatican Constitution which says that “any act of war which aims at the indiscriminate destruction of entire cities or vast territories with their inhabitants is a crime against God and humanity which demands a cruel and unquestionable condemnation “.

Referring to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, he said: “Unfortunately, today too, the nuclear threat has increased and the world is once again feeling fear and anxiety.”

He reiterated his call for a total ban on nuclear weapons, saying even possessing them for deterrence purposes was “immoral”.

Pope Francis also condemned Iran for imposing the death penalty on protesters calling for greater respect for women.

His remarks are the strongest since protests erupted across Iran following the death last September of 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish Mahsha Amini while in police custody.

“The right to life is also threatened in those places where the death penalty is still imposed, as is the case these days in Iran, following the recent protests demanding greater respect for the dignity of women,” Francis said.

“The death penalty cannot be used for a supposed state justice as it does not act as a deterrent or do justice to the victims, it only fuels the thirst for revenge,” he said.

He then repeated the call for the abolition of the death penalty on a global scale, saying that it is “always unacceptable as it attacks the inviolability and dignity of the individual”.

Four protesters have been executed in the wake of the unrest in Iran.

The Argentine pontiff also referred to the “political crises” in the Americas, sources of “tensions and violence”, making particular reference to Brazil, where supporters of former President Bolsonaro stormed the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court yesterday, Sunday, before the forces of order take control of the situation.

“I am thinking of the various political crises in many countries of the American continent, with their many tensions and the forms of violence that exacerbate social conflicts,” he said.

“I’m thinking in particular of what happened recently in Peru and in the last few hours in Brazil,” he clarified.

After several hours of chaos, reminiscent of the storming of the Capitol in Washington two years ago after former US President Donald Trump’s election loss, forces of order in Brazil regained control of the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court. Court where hundreds of opponents of the new head of state, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, invaded yesterday.

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