Pope urges world to help find solution to war in Syria

Pope Francis delivers his message during the Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013. The Pontiff says he is pained by the “terrible images” of atrocities emerging from Syria and is urging the international community to step up its efforts to end the civil war there. AP PHOTO/GREGORIO BORGIA

VATICAN CITY—Pope Francis appealed Sunday to the international community to help find a solution to the civil war in Syria while denouncing a “proliferation in massacres and atrocities” there.

“It’s not confrontation that offers perspectives of hope to resolve the problems but the capacity to meet and hold a dialogue,” the pope said after traditional Sunday prayers.

“I launch an appeal to the international community to be more sensitive to this tragic situation and to commit itself to the maximum to help the dear Syrian nation find a solution to a war which spreads destruction and death,” he said.

“I continue to follow the situation in Syria with suffering and worry,” he said.

He denounced the “increase in violence in a war between brothers” and the “proliferation of massacres and atrocities.”

The Syrian opposition has alleged that President Bashar al-Assad’s regime carried out a chemical weapons attack near Damascus last Wednesday that killed hundreds of civilians. Syria denies the charges.

“The terrible images of these days again cause me to raise my voice so that the sound of weapons stops,” the pope said without mentioning the chemical weapons claims.