The Pope addressed Azerbaijan and Armenia

Peace is impossible to achieve without disarmament, and the desire to defend oneself cannot become an arms race.

As BAKU.WS reports with reference to TASS, this was stated by Pope Francis in his traditional Easter message Urbi et orbi ("To the City and the World").

The 88-year-old pontiff himself was present during the announcement of his message on the balcony of the facade of St. Peter's Basilica and congratulated the faithful on Easter. He was unable to lead the Easter service, delegating this duty to Cardinal Angelo Comastri.

"No peace is possible without disarmament! The need of any nation to ensure its own defense cannot turn into an arms race. In the face of the brutality of conflicts that affect civilians, with the destruction of schools and hospitals, attacks on humanitarian workers, we must not forget that this does not strike the enemy, but people with souls and human dignity," said the pontiff.

He called for peace in the Holy Land, where this year Easter is celebrated simultaneously by Catholics and Orthodox.

"I express my closeness to the suffering Christians in Palestine and Israel, as well as to all the Israeli people and all the Palestinian people," the message proclaims. The pontiff also called for prayers for Christian communities in Lebanon and Syria, called for peace between Russia and Ukraine, "where all parties must strive to achieve a lasting peace." In addition, Francis mentioned the Caucasus region, where he wished for complete reconciliation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Balkans, where politicians "must not allow tension and crisis," as well as the difficult situation in African countries (DR Congo, Sudan, the Sahel region), Yemen and Myanmar.

For the first time in 11 years, Orthodox and Catholic Easter coincided on the same date. During the Easter service in St. Peter's Square, attended by more than 35,000 faithful, ancient Byzantine chants were sung, with text written in Old Slavonic.