Francis uses Assisi encounters to push for peace

Pope Francis this week led an interfaith appeal for global peace in Assisi as he becomes an increasingly important figure in helping to resolve international conflicts.

“War is a disgrace. In Assisi we will pray to the God of peace. God the Father of all, Christians and non-Christians – wants peace. There is no god of war. It’s the devil who does that,” Francis said in Rome before leaving for the home town of his namesake, St Francis.

In Assisi Francis and religious leaders, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, had lunch with victims of war, prayed for peace and then signed a declaration calling for an end to conflicts. “We are frightened” by isolated acts of terrorism but “that is nothing compared to places where bombs fall day and night”, Francis said earlier.

Peace and reconciliation have become a major part of Francis’ global diplomacy, with countries from Colombia and Cuba to the Central African Republic benefiting from his efforts.

It is in Latin America, however, where the Argentinian Pope is most consistently called on to help, with Venezuela the latest to come forward. Under the hard-left Government of President Nicolás Maduro the country has plunged into a severe economic crisis and there are fears of violent confrontations between government and opposition supporters.

Following appeals from the Union of South American Nations, and former presidents of Spain, Panama and the Dominican Republic, the Vatican said the Pope would step in as a mediator. The hopes are to engineer a dialogue and build trust between government and opposition.

This was his approach in Colombia where a truce has been agreed between the Government and leftist Farc rebels, marking an end to one of Latin America’s longest-running conflicts. The Holy See’s top diplomat, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, will travel to Colombia tomorrow to mark the signing of the country’s new peace declaration. Following his trip to Central African Republic last year, elections were able to take place and at the end of this month Francis will travel to Georgia and Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has been involved in a long-running dispute with Armenia over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Francis visited Armenia in June.

The event in Assisi on Tuesday marked 30 years since John Paul II took the extraordinary step of calling 160 religious leaders together to pray and fast for peace. It is a tradition that is being continued by Francis who wants prayers to turn into action.