Isolating Syria from the international community through sanctions “benefits no one” and complicates relief efforts to the millions left homeless after earthquakes devastated the country, said a top Vatican official who visited Turkey and Syria.

In a meeting with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the pope signed decrees Feb. 23 recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of an Italian religious sister and the heroic virtues of five others: two laywomen, two priests and a religious woman.

Pope Francis prayed that the sanctions in force against Syria since 2011 will not prevent aid from reaching the tens of thousands of victims in dire need after earthquakes killed more than 5,000 people and left many more injured or homeless.

– Support for basic science must be increased and defended from improper influences, “whether political or economic in nature,” Pope Francis told representatives of the Max Planck Society.

What matters is the truth and the love that God sees, not what is superficial, showy and self-centered, Pope Francis said during a Mass to mark the beginning of Lent.

Russia’s suspension of a nuclear arms treaty with the United States weakens structures promoting global security in the nuclear age, a senior Vatican official said.

A year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Pope Francis asked, “Can the Lord forgive so many crimes and so much violence? He is the God of peace.”

“It is very sad to see the church as if it were a parliament,” which is what happens when Catholics rely more on their personal opinions than on the Holy Spirit, Pope Francis said.

Diocesan bishops must have Vatican authorization to allow the celebration of the pre-Vatican II Mass in a parish church, to establish a new “personal parish” for devotees of the old Mass or to allow its celebration by a priest ordained after July 2021 when Pope Francis issued rules restricting the celebration, he said.

The church is called to pray, preach the Gospel and be attentive to God’s word in all circumstances, but even more so in the time of war, explained both the Vatican’s ambassador to the United Nations and the U.S. archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.