During this Sunday’s angelus, the Pope asked for prayers for peace after lamenting that there are areas of the world “where people suffer because of war.” Looking out of the window of the Apostolic Palace, Francis urged people to “pray for peace also in Sudan, Burma and in all places where people suffer because of war.” Furthermore, he has called on the international community to “do everything possible” to “end the massacre in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.” Thus, he has drawn attention to the death of Christian victims due to hatred of the faith and has pointed out that they have died as true “martyrs” who “witnessed the gospel with courage and consistency.” “Painful news continues to arrive of clashes and massacres in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” declared Pope Francis, who then called for an end to the violence in the African country,” the Pontiff noted in the Angelus. In his greetings in Italian, he highlighted the beatification of the Polish martyr Michal Rapacz who suffered Nazi and Soviet persecution. In his words prior to praying the Sunday Angelus, from the balcony of the Apostolic Palace, Francis recalled that “today the Gospel of the liturgy tells us about the Kingdom of God through the image of the seed”, highlighting that “several times Jesus uses this similarity and today he does so by inviting us to reflect in particular on an important attitude: confident waiting.” the sowing, no matter how good and abundant the seed that the farmer spreads and no matter how well he prepares the land, the plants do not sprout immediately: it takes time! Patience is needed,” the Pope stressed.
