Pope Francis has issued a fresh condemnation of all wars after angering Kyiv and Western governments earlier this week by suggesting that Ukraine should surrender and negotiate peace with Russia.
Speaking in general terms at his weekly audience at the Vatican on March 13, Francis said many young people die in war and added a prayer for “the grace to overcome this madness of war, which is always a defeat."
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Francis, 87, caused an uproar by saying in an interview with Swiss broadcaster RSI released over the weekend that Ukraine should "show the courage of the white flag" and open talks to end the war with Russia.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state and the pontiff's closest collaborator, tried to clarify the comments on March 12, saying in an interview that "the first condition" for peace is that Russia "put an end to its aggression."
Francis did not mention Ukraine in his audience on March 13 but said he had been given a rosary and a copy of the Gospels that had belonged to a man killed on the front line of a war.
Sister Lucia Caram, an Argentinian nun who met the pope before his audience, said on social media that the man was a 23-year-old Ukrainian soldier who died in Avdiyivka, which was captured by Russian forces last month.
The rosary had originally been blessed by the pope, and Sister Caram returned it to the pontiff, she said, according to Reuters. She added that Francis kissed it and appeared moved as "he loves Ukraine and suffers for the martyrdom of this people invaded and cruelly attacked."
Also on March 13, Francis marked the 11th anniversary of his election, a milestone recognized by Russia.
The Russian Embassy at the Vatican congratulated him on the anniversary, hailing the pope as a "true and sincere [advocate] of humanism, peace, and traditional values" in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Francis is "one of the few political leaders with a truly strategic viewpoint on world problems," the embassy said.