Pope urges U.S reconciliation, condemns racism and street violence

Pope Francis leads the Pentecost Mass in the Blessed Sacrament chapel of the St. Peter's Basilica, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Vatican, May 31, 2020. [Photo: Reuters]

Pope Francis called for national reconciliation in the United States on Wednesday, saying that while racism is intolerable, the street violence that has broken out is “self-destructive and self-defeating”.

Francis broke his silence on the tensions in the United States, which has seen eight nights of protests over the death of a black man in police custody, by dedicating the entire English-language section of his weekly audience to the turmoil there.