(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis appealed for peace in Syria on Wednesday, offering prayers
for leaders and policy experts gathering in Switzerland for a conference aimed at
working toward a resolution of the Syrian civil war that has claimed more than 100
thousand lives and driven millions of people from their homes. Listen:
Speaking at
the end of his weekly General Audience, Pope Francis said, “I ask the Lord to touch
the hearts of all [parties and participants], that, looking only to the greater good
of the so sorely tried Syrian people, they might spare no effort to reach as quickly
as possible the cessation of violence and the end of the conflict, which has already
caused too much suffering.”
The Holy Father went on to say, “I hope for dear
nation of Syria [that it undertake] with conviction the path of reconciliation, concord
and reconstruction with the participation of all citizens, in which everyone can find
in the other, not an enemy, not a rival, but a brother to welcome and embrace.”
The
“Geneva 2” international conference for peace in Syria opens Today, Wednesday, January
22nd, in Montreaux, Switzerland, with negotiations to continue in Geneva
starting on Friday, January 24th.