From the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Supreme Pontiff demanded in his words before tens of thousands of faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square that “whoever has an interest in these conflicts should listen the voice of conscience.”

He referred to the conflict between Israel and Palestine, where more than 21,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip, victims of Israel’s bombings, as well as others taking place in Ukraine, Sudan and other regions of the world, and alluded to the violence against the Rohingyas in Myanmar.

“At the end of a year, let us have the courage to ask ourselves: how many human lives have been lost due to armed conflicts? How many deaths? And how much destruction, how much suffering, how much poverty?” the Bishop of Rome stated.

The Pope also lamented that the Christmas celebration in Nigeria was marked by serious acts of violence in the state of Plateau, where there were many victims.

“I pray for them and their families. May God save Nigeria from these horrors!” Francisco expressed his condolences for that massacre, where some 160 people were killed in attacks by criminal gangs, and some 300 residents, mostly Christians and animist peasants were injured.

“I also pray for those who lost their lives in the explosion of a tanker truck in Liberia,” said Pope Francis, in reference to an accident on December 26, when 40 people died and 30 suffered serious burns.

Within the framework of the Christmas and New Year festivities, Pope Francis addressed a special greeting to families, as the “fundamental cell of society,” and stressed that “we must defend and support them always, always!”

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