<br>The Pope singled out the besieged city of El-Obeid and urged both sides in Ukraine to stop targeting civilians. “It is time to halt the spiral of violence.”
Following his Angelus address on Sunday, August 9, Pope Leo XIV turned his attention to two of the world’s most acute conflicts, calling on the international community not to let Sudan and Ukraine fade from sight over the summer.
Speaking in English, the Pope said he continues to follow “with concern the tragic situation” in Sudan, mentioning specifically the city of El-Obeid, capital of North Kordofan. “I renew my appeal to the authorities to guarantee humanitarian corridors for the civilian population,” he said, urging the international community to support efforts toward “an immediate ceasefire.”
The appeal carries particular weight given El-Obeid’s deteriorating situation. The war between Sudan's two rival generals, which began in April 2023, has already claimed an estimated 400,000 lives, displaced 13 million people internally, and driven a further 4 million into exile — one of the largest displacement crises since the Second World War. The World Food Programme described El-Obeid in July as a new “epicenter” of displacement and hunger, with nearly 400,000 people in the surrounding district facing acute emergency food insecurity.
On Ukraine, the Pope widened his gaze to include victims on both sides of the conflict. “Painful news continues to arrive of innocent people killed and wounded in Ukraine and in Russia,” he said. “Tragic episodes follow one another — and even multiply — causing ever more civilian casualties, including children.” He renewed “an urgent appeal for humanitarian law to be respected and for attacks targeting civilian objectives to cease on both sides,” adding that “war only generates more war and causes immense suffering.”
“It is time to halt the spiral of violence and make room for diplomacy and dialogue,” Leo said — a remark that arrives as Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, is expected to travel to Moscow before the end of the month.
The appeal followed a particularly deadly week. At least 17 people were killed in Russian strikes on Kyiv overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, with Ukrainian air defenses unable to intercept a single missile due to a shortage of interceptors. On Sunday itself, a Ukrainian drone attack killed five people in Belgorod, according to Russian authorities.
