Pope on Ukraine: ‘Absurd’ War, Sacred Right to Peace

Pope Francis said Monday that Russia’s war on Ukraine was “absurd” and Kyiv’s right to peace was “sacred.”

“All war marks a surrender regarding the human capacity to protect,” Francis told an audience of civil protection workers. “It is a denial of what is written in the United Nations’ solemn pledges. “That is why St. Paul VI, speaking at the UN, proclaimed: ‘War no more.”

“We repeat it again today over what is happening in Ukraine, and we protect people’s dream of peace, the sacred right of peoples to peace.” The pontiff thanked the civil protection workers for their assistance to Ukrainian refugees, “especially woman and children who have fled this absurd war.”