POPE FRANCIS CALLS UKRAINE WAR A ‘PERVERSE ABUSE OF POWER’ FOR PARTISAN INTERESTS

Fri 18 March 2022:

Pope Francis on Friday called the war in Ukraine a “perverse abuse of power” waged for partisan interests, which has condemned defenceless people to brutal violence.

Since the war began, the pope has not used the word “Russia” in his condemnations but has used phrases such as “unacceptable armed aggression” to get his point across.

His latest condemnation came in a message to a Catholic Church conference in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.

Pope, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Discuss Ukraine in Video Call

Earlier on Wednesday, Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church and Pope Francis discussed the war in Ukraine. Kirill’s office said, the first known contact between the two religious leaders since the conflict began.

The Moscow Patriarchy said in a statement that the two discussed the “humanitarian aspects of the ongoing crisis” and the importance of pursuing peace talks.

They also discussed “what actions the Russian Orthodox and the Roman Catholic churches could take to overcome its consequences,” the Russian side said.

In its readout of the conversation, which took place in a video call, the Vatican said the pope told Kirill: “The ones who pay the price of war are the people, the Russian soldiers and the people who are bombarded and die.”

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent