{"id":23646,"date":"2021-04-05T12:44:54","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T16:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=23646"},"modified":"2021-04-05T12:46:39","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T16:46:39","slug":"pope-in-easter-message-slams-weapons-spending-in-time-of-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=23646","title":{"rendered":"Pope, in Easter message, slams weapons spending in time of pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY . <\/p>\n

An article by By\u00a0Philip Pullella in Reuters<\/a> (reprinted by permission)<\/p>\n

Pope Francis urged countries in his Easter message on Sunday to quicken distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, particularly to the world\u2019s poor, and called armed conflict and military spending during a pandemic \u201cscandalous\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Coronavirus has meant this has been the second year in a row that Easter papal services have been attended by small gatherings at a secondary altar of St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, instead of by crowds in the church or in the square outside.<\/p>\n

After saying Mass, Francis read his \u201cUrbi et Orbi\u201d (to the city and the world) message, in which he traditionally reviews world problems and appeals for peace.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pandemic is still spreading, while the social and economic crisis remains severe, especially for the poor. Nonetheless \u2013 and this is scandalous \u2013 armed conflicts have not ended and military arsenals are being strengthened,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Francis, who would normally have given the address to up to 100,000 people in St. Peter\u2019s Square, spoke to fewer than 200 in the church while the message was broadcast to tens of millions around the world.<\/p>\n

The square was empty except for a few police officers enforcing a strict three-day national lockdown.<\/p>\n

(Article continued in right column.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Question for this article<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
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Religion: a barrier or a way to peace?, What makes it one or the other?<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

(Article continued from left column.)<\/p>\n

The pope asked God to comfort the sick, those who have lost a loved one, and the unemployed, urging authorities to give families in greatest need a \u201cdecent sustenance\u201d.<\/p>\n

He praised medical workers, sympathised with young people unable to attend school, and said everyone was called to combat the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI urge the entire international community, in a spirit of global responsibility, to commit to overcoming delays in the distribution of vaccines and to facilitate their distribution, especially in the poorest countries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Francis, who has often called for disarmament and a total ban on the possession of nuclear weapons, said: \u201cThere are still too many wars and too much violence in the world! May the Lord, who is our peace, help us to overcome the mindset of war.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018INSTRUMENTS OF DEATH\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Noting that it was International Awareness Day against anti-personnel landmines, he called such weapons \u201cinsidious and horrible devices … how much better our world would be without these instruments of death!\u201d<\/p>\n

In mentioning conflict areas, he singled out for praise \u201cthe young people of Myanmar committed to supporting democracy and making their voices heard peacefully\u201d. More than 550 protesters have been killed since a Feb. 1 military coup in Myanmar, which the pope visited in 2017.<\/p>\n

Francis called for peace in several conflict areas in Africa, including the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia and the Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique. He said the crisis in Yemen has been \u201cmet with a deafening and scandalous silence\u201d.<\/p>\n

He appealed to Israelis and Palestinians to \u201crediscover the power of dialogue\u201d to reach a two-state solution where both can live side by side in peace and prosperity.<\/p>\n

Francis said he realised many Christians were still persecuted and called for all restrictions on freedom of worship and religion worldwide to be lifted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY . An article by By\u00a0Philip Pullella in Reuters (reprinted by permission) Pope Francis urged countries in his Easter message on Sunday to quicken distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, particularly to the world\u2019s poor, and called armed conflict and military spending during a pandemic \u201cscandalous\u201d. Coronavirus has meant this has been the second year … Continue reading Pope, in Easter message, slams weapons spending in time of pandemic<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,14],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-23646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-global","category-tolerance","tag-global"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23646\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}