Pope pleads with leaders to stop escalation, commit to dialogue and negotiation'

Fresh Angelus appeal to rulers, for peace in Ukraine, Palestine, Israel and Myanmar. Dramatic humanitarian crisis in Sudan also recalled. On the Solemnity of Corpus Christi: Christians called to be "Eucharistic," to "make their lives a gift for others."

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "I appeal to the wisdom of the rulers to cease the escalation and put every effort into dialogue and negotiation." Today, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi celebrated in Italy and other countries, a colorful expanse of open umbrellas to protect against the rain falling in these hours on Rome welcomed Pope Francis' words shared from the window of the Vatican Apostolic Palace starting at 12 noon during the Marian Angelus prayer. The pontiff asked not to forget the battered Ukraine, Palestine, Israel and Myanmar. The square was packed on the day of Italy's Republic Day, the date of the 1946 institutional referendum when women were first called to vote.

In the speech that followed the recitation of the Angelus, also a heartfelt remembrance of Sudan, "where the war that has lasted for over a year has not yet found a peaceful solution."

The clashes involve the army of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane and the opposing paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Indeed, the North African country has been experiencing a very serious humanitarian crisis since April 2023, caused by the consequences of conflict and rampant famine.

The situation is causing a massive exodus of people to neighboring countries and safer areas with better conditions for living. UN figures speak of 18 million people suffering from hunger and an exorbitant number of boys and girls - suffering from malnutrition. "Let the guns be silent, and with the efforts of local authorities and the international community, help be brought to the people and the many displaced Sudanese refugees be allowed to find shelter and protection in neighboring countries," Pope Francis said.

The recitation of the Marian prayer was followed by a commentary on the day's Gospel (Mk 14:12-16, 22-26), which recounts Jesus' Last Supper. Inherent in this famous episode is a "gesture of delivery." "In fact, in the bread broken and in the cup offered to the disciples, it is He Himself who gives Himself for all humanity," Bergoglio said.

"And He offers Himself for the life of the world. The Holy Father then stressed an "important aspect" of this passage: the words "he gave him to them" (v. 22). The Eucharist "recalls first of all the dimension of gift," he added, in that Jesus does not divide the bread to eat it alone, but to share it. "Of his whole life Jesus made a gift."

From these premises Francis shared a reflection on the celebration of the Eucharist as experienced by Christian people every Sunday. "Celebrating the Eucharist and feeding on this Bread, as we do especially on Sundays, is not an act of worship detached from life or a simple moment of personal consolation," he said. 

Then recalling St. Leo the Great, according to whom participating in the body and blood of Christ serves to "make us become what we eat" (Sermon XII on the Passion, 7), the Pontiff added that Christians are called "to become eucharistic, that is, people who no longer live for themselves, no, in the logic of possession and consumption, no. People who know how to make of their lives a gift for others, yes!" Thanks to the Eucharist we become "prophets and builders of a new world: when we overcome selfishness and open ourselves to love, when we cultivate bonds of fraternity, when we participate in the sufferings of our brothers and sisters and share bread and resources with those in need."

Finally, Pope Francis provoked those listening with some questions, "Do I keep my life only for myself or do I give it as Jesus did? Do I spend myself for others or am I closed in my little self? And, in everyday situations, do I know how to share or do I always seek my own interest?"