Pope Francis has again called for peace between Russia and Ukraine without naming Russia as an aggressor. Coming six months after Russian forces attacked Ukraine, the Pope called for prayer “for the Ukrainian people, who have been suffering the horrors of war for the past six months,” during the general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday. To the applause of thousands of pilgrims, he said Francis hopes that “concrete steps will be taken to end the war and avoid a nuclear catastrophe in Zaporizhia”.
He thinks of the many prisoners, the dead, the refugees, the injured and the children in Ukraine and Russia who have lost their father or mother. The innocents paid for the “madness of war” on both sides,” the Pope said. He also mentioned Russian political activist Darya Dugina, who was killed in a bomb attack on August 20. Francis called her a “poor young woman who died in… Moscow was blown up in the car by a bomb”.
At the same time, the Pope condemned “those who make money from the war by selling weapons. They are criminals, they murder humanity.” He prayed that Our Lady would bring peace to the two beloved countries of Ukraine and Russia.
The Ukrainian Ambassador to the Holy See, Andriy Yurasch, subsequently criticized the Pope’s words. Jurasch told the Catholic News Agency (KNA) that it was “inappropriate to put Ukraine and Russia on the same level in this situation.” It was not Ukraine that attacked Russia, but thousands of Russian soldiers murdered innocent Ukrainian civilians. To death Of Dugina, the ambassador noted that she was not an innocent victim but an active supporter of the Russian war.
Regarding speculation about a possible papal visit to Ukraine, the ambassador emphasized that the pontiff was always welcome. Every visit to Ukraine helps to better understand the real situation. Jurasch recalled the visit to Ukraine by Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel at the end of June. Bettel initially wanted to speak to both sides. But after seeing the scale of Russian aggression with his own eyes, he changed his mind.
