Pope Leo laments a world 'in flames' at Ash Wednesday service

By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY, ‌Feb 18 (Reuters) - ​Pope ​Leo lamented a world "in flames" due to wars and the destruction of the environment during an Ash Wednesday ‌Mass, opening the season of Lent for the world's ⁠Christians.

Before sprinkling ashes on the heads of participants, a sign of mortality, ‌the pope said the ashes ‌could represent "the weight of a world that is ablaze, of entire cities destroyed by war".

He also told participants the ashes ​could signify "the ashes of international law and justice among peoples, (and) the ashes of entire ecosystems".

"It is so easy to ⁠feel powerless in the face of a world that is in flames," said Leo, the ​first U.S. pope.

Lent is a 40-day period of penance that leads to Easter, the most important Christian ​holiday, which celebrates the day on ‌which believers say Jesus rose from the dead.

It represents the 40 days Jesus is said in ⁠the Bible to have spent fasting in the desert. During the season, Catholics are asked to fast, remember the needy and reflect on ⁠mortality.

Leo, elected leader of the 1.4-billion-member Church in May to replace the late ​Pope Francis, did not mention a specific conflict in his remarks.

The pope has forcefully decried the world's ongoing wars in his first year and ‌denounced what he called a global "zeal for war" in a major foreign policy speech last month.

He ‌spoke on Wednesday at a service held in the Basilica of ⁠Santa Sabina on Rome's ‌Aventine Hill, preceded by ​prayers in a nearby church and a procession of cardinals and bishops.

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Editing by ‌Jon Boyle)

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