Pope Francis’ Prayer for Ukraine

Pope Francis’ Prayer for Ukraine:

Dear brothers and sisters,

in the pain of this war we all pray together, asking the Lord for forgiveness and asking for peace. 

We will pray a prayer written by an Italian Bishop.

Forgive us the war, Lord.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners.

Lord Jesus, born under the bombs of Kiev, have mercy on us.

Lord Jesus, who died in his mother’s arms in a bunker in Kharkiv, have mercy on us.

Lord Jesus, sent twenty years old to the front, have mercy on us.

Lord Jesus, who still see armed hands in the shadow of your cross, have mercy on us!

Forgive us Lord,

forgive us , if not satisfied with the nails with which we pierced your hand, we continue to drink the blood of the dead torn by arms.

Forgive us, if these hands you created to guard have turned into instruments of death.

Forgive us, Lord, if we continue to kill our brother, forgive us if we continue like Cain to remove the stones from our field to kill Abel. Forgive us, if we continue to justify cruelty with our fatigue, if with our pain we legitimize the brutality of our actions.

Forgive us the war, Lord. Forgive us the war, Lord.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, we plead with you! Stop the hand of Cain!

Light up our conscience,

our will not be done,

do not abandon us to our actions!

Stop us, Lord, stop us!

And when you stop Cain’s hand, take care of him too. He is our brother.

O Lord, stop violence!

Stop us, Lord!

Amen .

Pope Francis, General Audience, Rome – 16 March 2022