Speaking during the Angelus just days after the assassination of President Jovenal Moise, and a request by the interim Prime Minister for the deployment of UN and US troops to protect key infrastructure as the government tries to stabilize the country and prepare the way for elections, the Pope said in these days his prayers have often been for Haiti and its people.

‘I join the heartfelt appeal of the country’s Bishops to ‘depose arms, choose life, choose to live together fraternally in the common interest of all and in the interest of Haiti,’ he said.

And expressing his closeness to ‘the beloved people of Haiti’ the Pope called for an end to ‘the spiral of violence and that the nation may resume its journey towards a future of peace and harmony.’

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