Advertisement

Ukraine War

Pope Francis presides over a penitential service at St. Pius V Parish in Rome on March 8, 2024. | Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican: Pope Francis’ ‘white flag’ remark a call for negotiations, not Ukraine’s surrender

Mar 9, 2024

The Holy Father made the remarks last month in a newly released television interview with Swiss broadcaster RSI.

Speaking in his Angelus address on March 3 about the Israel-Hamas war, Pope Francis made an emotional plea for negotiations to reach a deal that both frees the hostages immediately and grants civilians access to humanitarian aid. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Urges "an immediate cease-fire in Gaza" that Frees Hostages, Grants Aid 

Mar 3, 2024

In his Angelus address on March 3, the pope made an emotional plea for a deal that both frees the hostages and grants humanitarian aid.

Pope Francis waves to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square on Feb. 25, 2024, during his weekly Angelus reflection. The pope canceled his audiences the day before due to mild flu conditions, according to the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis, Recovering from "mild flu," Renews Call for Peace in Ukraine

Feb 25, 2024

Pope Francis appeared in good form during his Angelus address, marking the the Ukraine war’s second anniversary and reflecting on the Transfiguration.

Pope Francis delivers his Sunday Angelus message to about 20,000 faithful in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Oct. 22, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis at Sunday Angelus: "We must not be slaves to any earthly power"

Oct 22, 2023

During Sunday’s Angelus, Pope Francis spoke to the faithful on the importance of the correct relationship between the Church and the state.

Black smoke billows over the city after drone strikes in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Sept. 19, 2023, amid Russia's military invasion on Ukraine. Drones attacked Ukraine's western city of Lviv early on Sept. 19, and explosions rang out, causing a warehouse fire and wounding at least one person. | Credit: YURIY DYACHYSHYN/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican Cardinal to Make Charity Mission to Ukraine City Hit by Russian Drones

Sep 20, 2023

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski is in Ukraine this week to open the House of Refuge “in the name of Pope Francis, as a sign of support and closeness.”

Pope Francis meets with Hungary President Katalin Novák at the Vatican on Aug. 25, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Discusses Family Values, Ukraine War with Hungarian President

Aug 25, 2023

Pope Francis discussed family values, religious freedom, and the Ukraine war with Hungary’s President Katalin Novák at the Vatican on Friday.

Pope Francis addresses reporters on Aug. 6, 2023 aboard the papal flight on his return to Rome from his five-day trip to Portugal and World Youth Day. | Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Pope Francis Explains Why He Skipped Fatima Prayer for Peace

Aug 7, 2023

On his return flight from World Youth Day on Sunday, Pope Francis explained why he opted to skip reading a prayer in Fatima that consecrated the Church and “countries at war” to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher. | Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Pope Francis "stubbornly believes in peace": Vatican Diplomat

Jul 18, 2023

Veteran Vatican diplomat Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher last week defended what he described as Pope Francis’ “strong and courageous” push for peace in Ukraine in the face of criticism from some who have said the Holy Father should take a harder line against Russia as the aggressor in the conflict.

Pope Francis’ envoy to Ukraine Cardinal Matteo Zuppi on June 6, 2023, finished a “brief but intense” two-day visit to Kyiv, which included a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. | Credit: Vatican News/YouTube

Papal Envoy to Ukraine Meets with President Zelenskyy, Concludes "intense" Visit

Jun 6, 2023

Pope Francis’ envoy to Ukraine Cardinal Matteo Zuppi on Tuesday finished a “brief but intense” two-day visit to Kyiv, which included a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna, was made a cardinal during the consistory of Oct. 5, 2019. | Daniel Ibanez/CNA.

Vatican: Italian Cardinal Entrusted with Ukraine Peace Mission

May 20, 2023

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi has been asked by Pope Francis to head a peace mission between Russia and Ukraine on behalf of the Vatican, the Holy See press office director said Saturday.

Pope Francis takes questions from the media aboard the papal flight from Hungary to Rome April 30, 2023. | Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Pope Francis Says He Did not Lose Consciousness Before Hospitalization in March

Apr 30, 2023

Pope Francis said on board the papal plane on Sunday that he did not lose consciousness before his hospitalization at the end of March, which was for “strong and acute pneumonia” in his lower lungs.

Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal meets Pope Francis in a private, 30-minute encounter at the Vatican on the morning of April 27, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Asks Pope Francis to Help Bring Back Children Taken to Russia

Apr 27, 2023

Ukraine’s prime minister told journalists Thursday that he has asked Pope Francis for help getting back children forcibly deported to Russia.

Pope Francis prays in St. Peter's Square on March 8, 2023. | Vatican Media

Pope Francis Says Imprisonment of Nicaraguan Bishop Reminds him of Hitler’s Dictatorship

Mar 10, 2023

Pope Francis called Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega “unstable” and likened Nicaragua’s Sandinista government to Nazi Germany in an interview published Friday.

Credit: Günther Simmermacher/pixabay

Ukrainian Soldier Saved by Praying the Rosary, Priest Recounts

Feb 27, 2023

One year from the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine, a Catholic priest recounted how a Ukrainian soldier was spared from being killed by praying the rosary.

Credit: Vlad Vasnetsov/pixabay

"There is no foreseeable solution" to Ukraine War: Spokesman for Russian Catholic Bishops

Feb 27, 2023

Speaking with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Father Kirill Gorbunov, who is also vicar general of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the Mother of God at Moscow, said that “the majority of the people are suffering” and that “after a year of war [with Ukraine], there is no foreseeable solution.”

Pope Francis attended a Vatican screening of the 2022 documentary “Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” on Feb. 24, 2023. | Vatican Media

This was Pope Francis’ Spontaneous Prayer for Ukraine on Anniversary of War

Feb 25, 2023

Pope Francis said a spontaneous prayer for peace during a Vatican event for the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Friday.

Pope Francis looking at images from Ukraine at the general audience, Dec. 21, 2022 | Vatican Media

"It’s in these times when heroes and saints are born": Ukrainian Priest

Feb 24, 2023

On the first anniversary of the war in his homeland, Ukrainian priest Father Jurij Blazejewski highlighted the faith of the Ukrainian people and assured that “it is Christ who is winning there” in a conflict where “saints and heroes are born.”

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk records a video message on April 8, 2022. | news.ugcc.ua.

Ukrainian Catholic Leader on Anniversary of War: We Need Spiritual Strength

Feb 24, 2023

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said Ukrainians need spiritual strength as much as ever as they mark one year since Russia’s full-scale invasion of their country.

Father Vyacheslav Grynevych gave Pope Francis with a cross made out of broken glass and rubble from destroyed buildings in Kyiv on Feb. 21, 2023. | Photo courtesy of Father Vyacheslav Grynevych

Catholic Priest from Ukraine Gives Pope Francis Cross Made out of War Rubble

Feb 23, 2023

Father Vyacheslav Grynevych vividly remembers the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine one year ago.

Pope Francis waves to the faithful gathered on St. Peter's Square, Dec. 26, 2022 | Vatican Media

Pope Francis Renews Prayers for Peace in Ukraine, Calls on Catholics to Learn from Martyr

Dec 26, 2022

Pope Francis on Monday called on Catholics to pray for those who have harmed them — and those persecuted — as he renewed his Christmas call for peace in Ukraine and worldwide.