Pope Leo: May horror of genocide never again be inflicted upon any people

By Deborah Castellano Lubov 

Pope Leo issued an impassioned appeal against hatred during his weekly General Audience on Wednesday morning in the Vatican, recalling that the previous day marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which, he noted, “brought death to millions of Jews and to many other people.”

“On this annual occasion of painful remembrance,” the Pope stressed, “I ask the Almighty for the gift of a world no longer marked by antisemitism, nor by prejudice, oppression, and persecution against any human being.”

He went on to renew his appeal to the international community, urging vigilance so that “the horror of genocide may never again be inflicted upon any people,” and so that “a society founded on mutual respect and the common good may be built.”

On Tuesday, the Pope also commemorated the International Day with a post on his @Pontifex account, stressing that “the Church remains faithful to the unwavering position of the Declaration Nostra Aetate against every form of antisemitism. The Church rejects any discrimination or harassment based on ethnicity, language, nationality, or religion.”