Pope Francis: It’s unacceptable that civilians pay the price in Syria’s war

Pope Francis once again renewed his call for peace in the ongoing conflict in Syria.

  The Holy Father addressed the crowd in St. Peter’s Square after the traditional Angelus prayer on Sunday, August 7 saying that it is unacceptable that defenseless people, including children, are paying the price in the Syrian war, which is now in its sixth year.

Vatican Radio quoted him as saying: “Dear brothers and sisters, sadly, news continues to reach us from Syria, of civilian victims of the war there, in particular from the city of Aleppo. It is unacceptable that so many defenseless persons – among them many small children – must pay the price for conflict – for the closure of the hearts and the want of a will for peace among the powerful.”

Before inviting the crowd to a moment of silent prayer followed by a Hail Mary, Pope Francis said: “Let us draw near to our Syrian brothers and sisters with prayer and solidarity, and let us entrust them to the maternal protection of the Virgin Mary.”

  According to an article published by Catholic Herald last July 5, Pope Francis urged governments to find a political solution to the war in Syria.

  As part of Caritas Internationals’ “Syria: Peace is Possible” campaign, he said in a video message that peace is possible in Syria and we must all recognize that there is no military solution and what we need is a political solution to solve the ongoing conflict there.

“The international community must therefore support peace talks towards the building of a national unity government. I invite you to ask those who are involved in peace talks to take these agreements seriously and to commit to facilitating access to humanitarian aid,” he added.

Daily News 4:35 PM