War in Ukraine

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Vatican News reported.

During his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square Sept. 21, the pope reflected on his trip to Kazakhstan Sept. 13-15 to support the small Catholic minority there and to attend the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.

Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, papal almoner, said he and several others came under gunfire while delivering humanitarian aid to suffering Ukrainians on Pope Francis’ behalf.

As war, violence and extremism in countries around the world threaten the lives of countless men, women and children, religions must rise above differences and be examples of peace and harmony, Pope Francis said.

Arriving in Kazakhstan, a country that borders Russia, Pope Francis said he came as a “pilgrim of peace” at a time when “our world urgently needs peace; it needs to recover harmony.”

Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, papal almoner, will embark on his fourth visit to Ukraine on Pope Francis’ behalf, the Vatican announced.

Pope Francis’ comments on the death of Darya Dugina, a 29-year-old commentator with a nationalist Russian TV channel, were meant to defend life and were not a political affirmation, the Vatican said.