AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): "I am saddened by the news from Lebanon, where in recent days the intense bombings have claimed many victims and caused destruction," said Francis during the general audience in front of thousands of pilgrims and tourists.
"I hope that the international community will make every effort to stop this terrible escalation. It is unacceptable. I express my closeness to the Lebanese people, who have already suffered too much in the recent past."
And let us pray for everyone, for all the peoples who suffer as a result of war: let us not forget tormented Ukraine, Myanmar, Palestine, Israel, Sudan, all the suffering peoples.
Let us pray for peace," added the Pope, who reiterated during today's 500th general audience of his pontificate that one should not speak to the devil.
“The strongest proof of the existence of Satan is found not in sinners or the possessed, but in the saints,” the Pope explained. He continued the cycle of catechisms on the theme "The Spirit and the Bride" and today focused on the role of the Holy Spirit as "our ally in the fight against evil".
"It is true that the devil is present and working in certain extreme and “inhuman” forms of evil and wickedness that we see around us," said Pope Francis.
"But by this route, though, it is practically impossible to reach, in individual cases, the certainty that it is truly him, given that we cannot know with precision where his action ends and our own evil begins. This is why the Church is so prudent and so rigorous in performing exorcism, unlike what happens, unfortunately, in certain films!”.
......................
End/ 257