pope colosseum october 25 prayer peace sant’egidio

Peace in the world, starting from Ukraine, returns to the center of the mobilization of the Community of Sant’Egidio, historical mediator in international conflicts. And Pope Francis will be the protagonist of the final moment of the International Meeting of Prayer for Peace “The Cry of Peace” on October 25 at 4:30 p.m. at the Colosseum. Not without having first met, at the Vatican, the French President, Emmanuel Macron.

An interview with strong symbolic value, the one between the Sovereign Pontiff and the Transalpine Head of State on October 24, considering that Macron has always held a line of total support for Ukraine invaded by Russia without ever cutting ties with Moscow , to promote the end of the conflict. An attitude consistent with the diplomacy of Francis, the Pope who since last spring, as revealed in the interview in Corriere della Sera on May 3, has nurtured the desire to go personally to Moscow and kyiv to promote a peace process .

For almost an hour, Pope Francis and Emmanuel Macron spoke after last night, informally, the head of the Elysee Palace met the new Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni. Then the head of the Elysée had an interview with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, and with the English Archbishop Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States.

Mattarella and peace

On October 23, however, Macron met the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, during the assembly of the community of Sant’Egidio The cry of peace. “It is necessary to prevent a new line of ‘fault’ from crossing and adding to the too many that already characterize Europe, the Middle East, many places in the world, separating peoples with new curtains of hate,” Mattarella said.

Sergio Mattarella with Emmanuel Macron. Photo Ansa / Quirinale Paolo Giandotti

After the Second World War, Italy and Europe responded to the war with the Constitution, with the birth of the European Union. Today, the same “courage” is again needed, with the joint effort of civil and religious leaders for the construction of “an international order which will escape the temptation of war”. We therefore need “a step forward”. “If you want peace, prepare for it: it is an exhortation repeated several times over the centuries. There can be no opposition between means and ends if you want peace. Peace cannot be achieved by advocating war and the will to power. Because peace is integral or does not exist”.

“There is no ‘holy war'”

“There is no ‘holy war’! Instead, there must be ‘holy peace’, genuine service to humanity and its future. Disorder produces disorder. Wars have a “domino” effect, a multiplier. Wars are contagious,” warned the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella. And so “we cannot indulge in the injustice of factual situations, nor the torment of endless wars. Europe cannot and must not allow itself to become a prisoner of precariousness, unable to fulfill its natural role of guarantor of peace and stability on the continent and in neighboring areas. Our freedom and our prosperity are at stake.”

Macron with Pope Francis. Photo Ansa/Vatican