On the 80th anniversary of the landing at Normandy Beach, Pope Francis sent a letter to the Bishop of Bayuex, France. In it, he remembers the soldiers. But he also mourns the fact that people have “short memories” and that wars continue today.
Let us pray for peacemakers. The desire for peace is not cowardice. On the contrary, it requires the greatest courage, the courage to know how to renounce something.
More than 425,000 Allied and German soldiers were killed, wounded or went missing during this battle—a turning point in World War II.
The Pope reflected on the great losses from D-Day on his return trip from Malta and at the beginning of the war in Ukraine in 2022.
POPE FRANCIS
April 3, 2022
When there was the commemoration of the Normandy landings, the heads of government gathered to commemorate it; but I don't remember anyone talking about the thirty thousand young soldiers who stayed on the beaches. They would open the boats, go out and be machine-gunned there on the beaches. The youth don't matter? That makes me think and makes me ache.
A few months prior on All Souls Day, Pope Francis visited the French cemetery in Rome, praying at the tombs of soldiers who died in World War II, many nameless.
POPE FRANCIS
November 2, 2021
Not even a name. On God's heart, there's all of our names, but this is the tragedy of war. I am sure that all these who have gone in good will, called by their homeland to defend it, are with the Lord.
Pope Francis challenges the world to not forget those who gave their lives in war and people around the world join him in commemorating D-Day each anniversary.
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