A day after canceling his audiences due to what the Holy See called a “mild flu-like condition,” the Pontiff appeared in good form during his weekly Angelus address Sunday, marking the second anniversary of the war in Ukraine with a call for peace while urging Catholic faithful to “never direct your eyes away from the light of Jesus.”
“How many victims, injuries, destruction, anguish, tears in a period that is becoming terribly long and of which the end is not yet in sight,” the Holy Father said about the war, which began with Russia’s invasion on February 24, 2022, adding that the conflict has “unleash(ed) a global wave of fear and hatred.”
“While I renew my deepest affection for the tormented Ukrainian people and pray for everyone, in particular for the numerous innocent victims,” he said, “I implore that that bit of humanity be found that allows us to create the conditions for a diplomatic solution in search of a just and lasting peace.”
On February 24, 2024, the Holy See announced that Pope Francis canceled his audiences on that day as a “precaution.”
On Sunday, Pope Francis returned to public view for the weekly Angelus. Reflecting on the Gospel reading for the second Sunday in Lent — Mark’s account of the Transfiguration, where he described the apostles’ mountaintop experience with Jesus as a transformative moment where Christ “physically manifests himself there in all his light.”
The Transfiguration, the Pontiff said, sums up all of Jesus’ works up until that point of his ministry, while foreshadowing his Passion.
“The preaching of the Kingdom, the forgiveness of sins, the healings, and the performed signs were, indeed, sparks of a greater light, namely, of the light of Jesus,” he said from the window of his study in the Apostolic Palace, overlooking nearly 20,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
The Pope stressed that it is an event that reminds all Christians that “God is light,” which allows us to “seek his face, that is full of mercy, fidelity, and hope.” In this way we can keep Christ fixed as a singular point of reference as “we journey through life.”
