“I invite everyone to pray for Sudan, where the war that has lasted over a year has yet to find a peaceful solution. May weapons be silenced.” Pope Francis made that appeal on Sunday as he prayed the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square. The Pope urged international leaders and Sudanese authorities to help Sudan and its many displaced people. “May Sudanese refugees find welcome and protection in neighboring countries,” he added. Pope Francis also prayed for peace in “martyred Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, and Myanmar.” “I appeal to the wisdom of leaders, so that escalation may cease and every effort may be spent in dialogue and negotiations,” he said. As the Pope appealed for peace, time seems to be running out for millions of people in Sudan, who are at imminent risk of famine. The country is embroiled in a second year of conflict between rival military factions and is home to the largest number of internally displaced people in the world. Now, as the war drags on, humanitarian organisations have sent a stark warning, saying the warring parties are preventing aid from reaching the population.
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