By Ben Kerrigan-
In his annual address to diplomats, Pope Francis has denounced Russia’s war in Ukraine as a crime against God and humanity.
The Pope also made reference to Iran’s treatment of protesters and the damaging of government buildings in Brazil by followers of the country’s far-right ex-president.
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The pope denounced the “wake of death and destruction” caused by Russia’s nearly-year-long offensive in Ukraine, describing the war as “a crime against God and humanity”.
He said attacks on civilian infrastructure were causing deaths “not only from gunfire and acts of violence but also from hunger and freezing cold.”
“Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and humanity which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation,” Francis said.
His condemnation came as the death toll from this morning’s Russian missile attack on a market in Ukraine’s eastern village of Shevchenkove rose to at least two, according to officials, including a 60-year-old was among two women killed after the missile slammed into the village market in Shevchenkove, about 80km (50 miles) south-east of the city of Kharkiv.
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In a statement, the regional prosecutor’s office said:
According to the investigation data, around 09:10 on January 9, the occupiers launched a missile attack on Shevchenkove town in Kupyansk district.
An enemy missile hit the territory of a local market. Two women were killed.
Three other women and a 10-year-old girl were injured in the attack, it said.
An investigation has been opened into a potential war crime, citing preliminary information that the attack came from an S-300 air defence system in Russia’s Belgorod region bordering Ukraine
The pope also warned of a rising nuclear threat which evoked memories of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.
Francis said the world “once more feels fear and anguish” and called for a total ban on nuclear weapons. Francis condemned Tehran’s use of the death penalty against demonstrators who are demanding greater freedoms for women.
The remarks were his strongest yet on the nationwide protests over the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody that have gripped Iran since mid-September.
“The death penalty cannot be employed for a purported state justice, since it does not constitute a deterrent nor render justice to victims, but only fuels the thirst for vengeance,” he said.
Francis also called for a global end to capital punishment and described the death penalty as “always inadmissible since it attacks the inviolability and the dignity of the person”.
Women’s rights: ‘They are subjected to violence and abuse’
In a broader comment on women’s rights globally, the pope said women in many countries are still treated as “second-class citizens”.
“They are subjected to violence and abuse, and are denied the opportunity to study, work, employ their talents, and have access to health care and even to food,” Francis said.
The comment on education could refer to the Afghan Taliban’s recent move against women who want to study at the university level.
Francis expressed alarm over a “weakening of democracy” in the Americas, citing the storming of government buildings in Brazil on Sunday by supporters of former populist leader Jair Bolsonaro.
The spectacle was evidence of the “heightened political and social polarisation” afflicting various regions of the Americas, he said.
He said there were several countries where “political crises are laden with tensions and forms of violence that exacerbate social conflicts”.
“I am thinking of these last few hours in Brazil,” the pope said, in a line that was not included in the pre-released text of his speech.
Francis also cited Peru, which has recently been gripped by deadly nationwide protests, and a “worrying situation” in Haiti, where gang violence is frequent.
“There is a constant need to overcome partisan ways of thinking and to work for the promotion of the common good,” he said.
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