Pope praises Nagorno-Karabakh truce, prays for peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Pope Francis on Sunday (October 11) expressed his support for the agreement of a humanitarian ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh between Azerbaijan and Armenia as the two countries are accusing each other of serious violations and crimes against civilians.

"Although the truce proves too fragile, I encourage them to resume and express participation in the pain of the loss of human lives, for the sufferings as well as for the destruction of homes and places of worship," Francis told faithful gathered under the rain in St. Peter's Square for his weekly Angelus prayer.

The ceasefire, clinched after marathon talks in Moscow advocated by President Vladimir Putin, was meant to halt fighting to allow ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh and Azeri forces to swap prisoners and war dead.

The Moscow talks were the first diplomatic contact between the two since fighting over the mountainous enclave erupted on Sept. 27, killing hundreds of people. The enclave is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but is populated and governed by ethnic Armenians.

Both sides accused one another of breaking the ceasefire almost immediately and on Sunday, Azerbaijan accused Armenia of heavily shelling a residential area in Ganja, its second largest city, in the early hours of the morning, and of hitting an apartment building.

Renewed fighting in the decades-old conflict has raised fears of a wider war drawing in Turkey, a close ally of Azerbaijan, and Russia, which has a defense pact with Armenia.

The clashes have also increased concern about the security of pipelines that carry Azeri oil and gas to Europe.

The fighting is the worst since a 1991-94 war that killed about 30,000 people and ended with a ceasefire that has been violated repeatedly.

After his Angelus prayer, the pontiff also expressed his closeness to the countries battling wildfires.

California wildfires have set a new record this year, scorching more than 4 million acres -- an area twice the size of the state of Connecticut, more than double California's previous record in 2018, when the state saw its deadliest blaze that killed 85 people around the town of Paradise.

In Paraguay forest fires raged, burning vast swaths of the Chaco dry forest, home to sprawling cattle ranches, jaguars and many indigenous tribes.