Sun 04 June 2023:

In his first appearance on a major television network on Sunday, Pope Francis once more made a call for peace and spoke out against war.

“It is a story as old as humanity: With peace you always win, maybe a little, but you win; With war, you lose everything. Everything! And so-called gains are losses,” the head of the Catholic Church said on Sunday in the TV show “A Sua Immagine” (In His Image) on the Italian channel Rai 1. There is a “joy in tormenting,” he said, referring to wars and conflicts.

It was the pontiff’s first appearance in a large television studio, as he answered a question from presenter Lorenza Bianchetti. TV interviews have so far been conducted by Francis either from the Vatican or via video link.

The popular Catholic TV programme is traditionally broadcast on Sundays before the Pope’s Angelus prayer.

When asked by another guest about his health, he jokingly said, “I’m still alive.”

Francis’ appearance on the TV show, which was created in 1997 in collaboration with the Italian Bishops’ Conference, had actually been planned for the end of March. His appearance fell through, however, as the pontiff was taken to hospital on that very day due to respiratory problems and was treated there for three days.

Prays for victims of India train

During the Sunday Angelus in Saint Peter’s Square, Pope Francis remembered the victims of the train accident in India two days ago that took the lives of nearly 300 people and injured some 1,200 others, according to recent reports.

The Pope assured them of his prayers and said that he is close to the injured and their families. He said, “May our heavenly Father receive the souls of the deceased into his kingdom.”

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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