The Pope castigates violence against women, an “outrage” against God

Pope Francis on Saturday called on the world to “To roll up one’s sleeves” to work for peace and ensured that violence against women amounted to “to outrage God”, in a message on the first day of the year. The Pope dedicated his message at the end of the first Angelus prayer of 2022 to the need to end violence in the world, on the occasion of the 55th World Day of Prayer for Peace.

Under a sunny sky, the head of the Catholic Church, which has 1.3 billion faithful, spoke from his window of the Apostolic Palace in front of the crowd gathered on Saint Peter’s Square. “There is no need to let down and complain, but to roll up your sleeves to build peace”, he said. “Let us go home with peace, peace, peace in mind. We need peace.”

Francis, who turned 85 on December 17 and will begin the ninth year of his pontificate in March, recalled that peace presupposes “concrete actions” and is built “with attention to the little ones, with the promotion of justice, with the courage of forgiveness, which extinguishes the fire of hatred”.

It requires “a positive perspective also, which sees, in the Church as well as in society, not the evil which divides us but the good which unites us!”.

Previously, during a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in honor of the Virgin Mary, the Pope denounced violence against women as an insult to God.

“The Church is mother, the Church is woman “, he estimated. “And while mothers give birth and women keep the world, let’s all make sure to promote mothers and protect women.” “What violence there is against women! Enough! To hurt a woman is to insult God who has taken the humanity of a woman”, he added.

In a message released on December 21 by the Vatican for World Peace Day, the Pope recommended “three ways to build lasting peace”, dialogue between generations, education and work, “essential for ‘the elaboration of a social pact’, without which any peace project is inconsistent“. The text underlined that the budget devoted to education has been reduced “noticeably” in recent years in the world, unlike military spending which has exceeded “the level of the end of the cold war”.

The Pope took up these themes on Saturday after the Angelus, evoking the “uncertain and difficult times due to the pandemic”.

“There are many who are afraid of the future and who are overwhelmed by social situations, personal problems, the dangers of the ecological crisis, injustices and planetary economic imbalances”, he said. “As I look at Mary holding her child in her arms, I think of young mothers and their children who are fleeing wars and famine or who are waiting in refugee camps “.