The call to prayer is an “active mission,” one that does not take a believer from the world but prompts the believer to bring to God the pain and concerns of the world — including the war in Ukraine, Pope Francis said.

Appealing again for an end to the war in Ukraine, Pope Francis said those who invoke God to promote or justify violence “profane his name.”

At the behest of Pope Francis, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, arrived in Poland March 7 to offer encouragement and material help to Ukrainian refugees and the volunteers assisting them. Two days later, he crossed the border into Ukraine.

The Catholic Church needs women, especially women saints, who have shown throughout history an unwavering dedication to God and to caring for their brothers and sisters, Pope Francis said.

Two cardinals arrived at separate destinations on one mission entrusted to them by Pope Francis: to bring relief, hope and encouragement to suffering Ukrainians.

In a telephone call with Russia’s foreign minister, the Vatican secretary of state “conveyed Pope Francis’ deep concern about the ongoing war in Ukraine,” the Vatican said.

Pope Francis said the Vatican “is ready to do everything to put itself at the service of peace” in Ukraine.

Pope Francis praised Poland’s welcoming of refugees escaping the violence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Catholic Archdiocese of Kyiv-Halych and the Ukrainian Embassy to the Holy See said they had received information that Russia planned airstrikes on the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kyiv.

Vice President Kamala Harris Feb. 24 held a ceremonial swearing-in of Catholic lawyer Joe Donnelly of Indiana as the new U.S. ambassador to the Holy See.