Pope Francis: Redirect money for armaments to prevent disasters like the pandemic

Pope Francis appealed to world leaders at prayer on Saturday to act wisely and be generous regarding social and economic assistance for the many workers who have lost their jobs.

The Pope also called for the enormous sums of money allocated for the development of armaments to be spent on preventing future disasters like the coronavirus pandemic.

The Pope offered a prayer for the end of the coronavirus pandemic and the development of a vaccine against the vicious virus.

The head of the Catholic Church was joined in the Vatican Gardens by representatives from the front lines of the fight against the pandemic – a doctor, a nurse, a hospital chaplain, a pharmacist, a journalist, and a civil protection member.

Among his 100 guests were a man who had recovered from the coronavirus, a person whose relative had died during the epidemic in Italy, as well as the parents of a baby born during the epidemic. They sat with the mandatory distance and protective masks.

Pope Francis mentioned that many victims of the virus had died alone in hospitals due to the ban on visits, and that due to the situation, some had been buried in a manner that 'hurts the soul'.

The prayer, held in the evening in the Vatican Gardens, was the largest gathering since extraordinary measures were introduced in the Vatican due to the epidemic in Italy.