Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of Catholics and President of the Holy See, called for concrete efforts to end the war in Ukraine, which he described as “cruel and absurd”.
In his speech at the traditional Wednesday general audience at the Vatican, the Pope pointed out that the anniversary of the war in Ukraine has arrived and said, “Dear brothers and sisters, the day after tomorrow, February 24, will mark one year since the invasion of Ukraine. The first anniversary of this cruel and absurd war. It is a sad anniversary.”
Expressing the need to stand by the suffering Ukrainian people during this time, the Pope said: “Has everything possible been done to stop the war? I call on all authorities, above all nations, to make concrete efforts to end the conflict. What is built on rubble will never be a real victory.”
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The spiritual leader of Catholics has called for peace many times before, expressing the Vatican’s readiness to contribute to peace efforts and his willingness to visit both Ukraine and Russia for this purpose.
Pope Francis made a surprise visit to the Russian Embassy in the Vatican on February 25, the day after the war broke out last year, going beyond protocol conventions. During the visit, the Pope conveyed his concerns about the war to Russian Ambassador to the Vatican Alexander Avdeev.
