St Mary’s Catholic Church in Dubai published a similar announcement on its website and said Good Friday’s mass would be live-streamed online instead, on the church’s YouTube channel.
Pope Speaks With Israeli, Ukrainian Presidents, Urging Peace
Pope Leo XVI spoke on Friday with the presidents of Israel and Ukraine, discussing the ongoing wars and the need for peace.
The American-born pontiff spoke by telephone with Israel’s Isaac Herzog and, separately, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, in which the humanitarian situation in each war zone was discussed, the Vatican said.
The pope and Herzog “reaffirmed the need to reopen all possible channels of diplomatic dialogue to bring an end to the serious ongoing conflict, with a view to achieving a just and lasting peace throughout the Middle East,” a statement said.
“The conversation also focused on the importance of protecting the civilian population and promoting respect for international and humanitarian law,” it added.
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The calls happened as the pontiff was observing the Catholic Holy Week leading up to Easter on Sunday, and while Herzog was marking Jewish Passover into next week, and as Zelensky, a Jew, was preparing to see Ukraine celebrate Orthodox Easter, which this year falls on April 12.
A statement from Herzog’s office said the two exchanged greetings for Passover and Easter before discussing the Iran war “including the ongoing threat of missile attacks by the Iranian regime and its terror proxies against people of all faiths in the region.”
Regarding Lebanon, they discussed “the importance of the safety and security of Christian communities on both sides of the border”.
– Prisoner Release –
With Zelensky, Leo expressed his “best wishes for the Easter holidays” and both leaders discussed the “urgency of providing the necessary aid to the population suffering from the conflict.”
“Reference was also made to efforts aimed at promoting humanitarian initiatives, especially regarding the release of prisoners,” the Vatican said.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, the Vatican has sought to play a mediating role behind the scenes, trying to bring about prisoner exchanges through diplomatic channels.
Zelensky said on X that while he was speaking to the pope, “the Russians attacked Ukraine yet again” after waves of attacks since Thursday night in at least five regions.
“Not a single hour of peace for our people, and this is Russia’s response to our proposal for an Easter ceasefire,” he wrote.
The Vatican said that the pope and Zelensky evoked hopes that “with the commitment and cooperation of the international community, hostilities may cease as soon as possible and a just and lasting peace may be achieved”.
In February, Leo said that peace in Ukraine, where the war has dragged on for more than four years, was “an urgent necessity”.
Regarding the war in the Middle East, this week Leo called on world leaders to “come back to the table to dialogue”, saying he hoped that US President Donald Trump was “looking for an off-ramp”.
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