Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke on the phone with Pope Francis [1] on Tuesday.
“[I] told His Holiness about the difficult humanitarian situation and the blocking of rescue corridors by Russian troops,” the president tweeted. “The mediating role of the Holy See in ending human suffering would be appreciated. Thanked for the prayers for Ukraine and peace.”
Minutes later, as he addressed the Italian senate, he reportedly quoted Pope Francis’s “very important words,” claiming the Catholic leader said: “I understand that you want peace, I understand that you want to defend yourselves, I understand that the military defend civilians, and that civilians defend their own homeland.”
Zelenskyy said his response to the pontiff’s words were: “Our people have become the army, when they have seen the evil that the enemy brings with him, how much devastation he leaves behind him, and how much blood he wants to see spilled.“
According to Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See, Zelenskyy reiterated his invitation for Francis to visit Ukraine, saying that he is “the most awaited guest in Ukraine.” Last week, a letter by the mayor of Kyiv inviting the pontiff to the city was leaked to the media.
Speaking in Rome on Thursday, Pope Francis said that what is happening in Ukraine is “unbearable” and this “shameful war” [2] evidences a culture of “power and oppression.”