Pope Francis, in the General Audience of April 6, 2022, made an appeal for peace regarding the war in Ukraine. He said, “They are victims whose innocent blood cries to Heaven and implores: put an end to this war! Silence the weapons! Stop sowing death and destruction! Let us pray together for this…” 

Two years have passed since Russian troops invaded Ukraine on the morning of February 24, 2022. This war has now been going on for two years and has already cost the lives of countless people. 

The war between the two neighboring states is the result of a long conflict that has been escalating for ten years, intensified by the annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, and which has reached a new climax in open warfare since 2022.  

Since then, not a week has passed in which Pope Francis has not recalled the suffering of civilians in the wars across the globe. The moment remains unforgettable, when the Holy Father suddenly burst into tears while praying for Ukraine at the Marian column in Rome.  

Francis uses strong symbols to draw particular attention to the suffering of children. In the same audience, pointing to the children present, he said, “These children had to escape and come to a foreign land: this is one of the fruits of war. Let us not forget them, and let us not forget the Ukrainian people. It is hard to be uprooted from your own land due to war.”  

But the Pope did not stop at symbols and gestures. With the help of the papal almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the Holy See repeatedly sent relief supplies to Ukraine, including ambulances. At the same time, Vatican diplomats are trying to mediate between the warring parties. 

On February 16, 2024, Alexei Navalny, the Russian dissident and one of the main opponents of President Vladimir Putin, passed away at the age of 47 in a Russian penal colony, where he had been held since 2021, serving a 19-year sentence. Before that, he suffered an attempted poisoning in 2020. 

Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin was celebrating Holy Mass in Rome at the time and was subsequently asked by reporters whether Navalny's death changed the position of the Holy See towards Russia. Parolin replied that he thought "the matter could have been resolved differently” and that it is "premature” to make any predictions about diplomatic relations.  

Only one thing is clear: the war in Ukraine will remain on the Holy Father's prayer list.  

Adapted by Jacob Stein