The Pope fears an escalation in the Middle East: “It would be the end of many things”

He Pope Francisco This Wednesday, he expressed his fear of the “possibility” of a global escalation of the conflict in the Middle East and insisted on the “wise solution” of the two states between Israel and Palestine.

“It would be the end of many things and many lives. I think that human wisdom stops these things. Yes, there is a possibility, right? This war affects us because of what Israel, Palestine, the Holy Land and Jerusalem mean, but also Ukraine because it is very close.he said in an interview with Italian public television RAI broadcast tonight.

In this sense, the Argentine pontiff proposed “the wise solution” of the two States “well delimited with Jerusalem with a special status.”

“I feel that every war is a defeat. Nothing is resolved with war, everything is won with peace and dialogue,” he lamented, later denouncing that “there is no ability to reflect clearly,” attacking the arms industry.

Francis recalled the outbreak of the war in Syria at the beginning of his pontificate and said that “it is not nice to say it but unfortunately one gets used to it and we should not get used to it.”

He also denounced that “unfortunately, anti-Semitism remains hidden” after the Holocaust and the World War II.

The pope also remembered the “martyred people” of Ukraine and the “persecution” they suffered during the times of the Soviet dictator Stalin: “They have been a people that suffers a lot and now anything makes them relive that. “I understand them,” he assured.

And then confess that he understands the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in defending the Russian invasion: “I understand you but peace is needed, stop for a bit, reach a peace agreement,” he urged.

He also addressed the issue of immigration as an Italian “son of migrants” who arrived in Argentina and said that the European Union “has to be supportive” and not allow five countries – Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Malta and Greece – “to take charge.” of everyone.”

“One person made me see that we need immigrants because we don’t have children, there are small towns with 10 or 12 elderly people and they need people who go to work there,” he explained, and then asked that these people be “received, accompanied and integrated.”

“An immigration policy has to be constructive for the good of the country. And also pan-European,” she maintained.

In another vein, Francis confirmed that he will travel to Dubai next December to participate in COP28, the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, a topic he addressed in his encyclical “Laudati Si” (2015) and in his recent second part.

The role of women in the Church

Also He advocated continuing to include women “in the normal work of the Church” although clarifying that the question of possible ordinations implies “a theological and ministerial problem.”.

Regarding celibacy in the Western Catholic Church “it is a law that can be removed, there is no problem, but – he pointed out – I don’t think it will help.”

He also considered that “there are still things to do” in the fight against pedophilia in the Church: “We must not stop,” he said.