Pope Francis Calls For Weapons Funding To Be Spent On Pandemic Prevention Instead

As Reuters reported, during the lockdown, the pope's regular addresses, masses, and public appearances had to be curtailed. He has carried on with televised masses and ceremonies, but with St. Peter's Square open to the public again as of May 18, the pope finally addressed worshipers in person, from the balcony, on May 31.

However, before that, he held a special open-air prayer session attended by about 130 healthcare workers and those who had lost loved ones to the coronavirus.

While most of the attendees wore masks, Pope Francis did not. However, he did maintain his distance during the ceremony, sitting several meters apart from the crowd.

At the end of the service, Pope Francis chose to address a larger audience, making a plea to world leaders in general.

While Pope Francis acknowledged that nations forced to lock down face considerable short-term challenges when it comes to their economies, he said their leaders needed to re-build in a lasting way, diverting funds from weapons as a measure to prevent the next pandemic.

The pope prayed that the Madonna's spirit would "touch (leaders’) consciences so that enormous sums spent to possess more armaments and to perfect them be instead destined to the promotion of sufficient research to prevent such catastrophes in the future."

Among others, Pope Francis implored the international scientific community to work together to develop a vaccine for the virus and to share that vaccine globally.

h/t: Reuters