At the end of the Holy Mass celebrated in Saint Peter’s Square on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Armed Forces, Police and Security Forces, the Holy Father Francis led the Angelus prayer with the approximately thirty thousand participants in the Jubilee event.

The following are the Pope’s words of introduction to the Marian prayer:

Dear brothers and sisters,

Before concluding the celebration, I wish to greet you all, who have brought to life this Jubilee pilgrimage of the Armed Forces, Police and Security Forces. I thank the distinguished civil authorities for their presence, and the military Ordinaries and Chaplains for their pastoral service. I extend my greeting to all military personnel throughout the world, and I would like to recall the teaching of the Church in this regard. The Second Vatican Council says: “Those too who devote themselves to the military service of their country should regard themselves as the agents of security and freedom of peoples” (Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, 79). This armed service is to be exercised only for legitimate defence, never to impose dominion over other nations, always observing the international conventions on matters of conflict (cf. ibid.), and before that, in sacred respect for life and creation.

Brothers and sisters, let us pray for peace, in tormented Ukraine, in Palestine, in Israel and throughout the Middle East, in Myanmar, in Kivu, and in Sudan. Let arms be silent everywhere, and let the cry of the peoples, who are asking for peace, be heard!

Let us entrust our prayer to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace.

Angelus Domini…