conflict

The war in Ukraine, ongoing instability in Tigray and global inflation — peaking at 43% for food items in Ethiopia in April — have placed additional burdens on humanitarian and pastoral efforts in Ethiopia.

The appeal, directed to Ukrainian Catholic faithful and “to all people of goodwill,” was issued in a Feb. 12 letter signed by Archbishop Borys Gudziak.

“I am following with concern the rising tensions that threaten to strike a new blow at peace in Ukraine and put into question the security of the European continent, with even wider repercussions,” the pope said Jan. 23.

Pope Francis may have kissed the feet of South Sudan’s warring political leaders in a dramatic 2019 appeal for peace, but armed conflict continues to cause death and displacement in the world’s newest country, pushing Catholic leaders here to plead for the conflict’s victims.

Conflict and violence in the world will never end if people do not fully understand their responsibility to each other as members of one human family, Pope Francis said in a written message.

Dale Ahlquist’s latest book, “Knight of the Holy Ghost,” highlights the life and works of English writer and philosopher G.K. Chesterton.