The religious leader had previously announced plans to visit kyiv and possibly Moscow.
Pope Francis has urged his followers to pray for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to resume. During Sunday’s Angelus service, he claimed to be “near the suffering ukrainian village” and asked “how is it possible not to understand that war only creates destruction and death, separating people, killing truth and dialogue.”
The comments, which were also posted on Twitter, were just the latest of many statements the pontiff has made about the conflict. He has repeatedly urged both sides to return to the negotiating table and Western countries to stop increasing their defense spending in response to the war. Earlier this month he announced that “renew [his] closeness to the Ukrainian people, tormented daily by the brutal attacks paid by ordinary people”, calling followers to pray for a “put an end to this senseless war.”
Pope Francis has frequently asked that “de-escalation” and the end of hostilities in Ukraine, stating recently that while “the world needs peace”, that peace cannot be based”in the balance of arms or mutual fear.”
The Catholic leader acknowledged last month that the war could have been “caused”, citing a conversation with an anonymous head of state who commented that NATO was “barking at the gates of Russia” in a way that was almost certain to spark a conflict. He also claimed that World War III was underway and had been for several years. Last week, the Pope revealed that he plans to visit kyiv and possibly Moscow in the coming months, believing that such a visit “would have positive results”, according to the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, Monsignor Paul Richard Gallagher.
No pope has yet visited Moscow and Francis’ earlier request to do so was reportedly rejected, with Russia claiming the time was not right for such a visit. As well as urging his followers to pray for peace in Ukraine, the Catholic leader also invited them to pray for the people of Sri Lanka, whose government recently collapsed due to widespread fuel and food shortages.