Pope Francis visited the Russian embassy in the Holy See yesterday to express his concerns about the invasion of Ukraine to the ambassador of Moscow, Reuters reported. This is an unprecedented deviation from diplomatic protocol, the agency notes.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope had spent about 30 minutes at an embassy near the Vatican.
“He went to express his concerns about the war,” Bruni told Reuters, but did not comment on whether the Holy Father had offered to mediate with the Vatican.
In fact, for the first time a pope goes to an embassy to talk to an ambassador during a conflict. The Vatican’s secretary of state usually summons foreign envoys or they meet with the pope at the Apostolic Palace.
In an interview with Reuters on February 14, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Vatican said Kiev was open to the Holy See’s mediation in the conflict.
Meanwhile, the Vatican’s press service said Pope Francis had been forced to cancel a trip to Florence for Ash Wednesday. The Holy Father, who is 84 years old, suffers from sciatica – a neurological disease that causes pain in the legs.
Pope Francis says his heart aches over the situation in Ukraine and announces a “Day of Fasting for Peace” on Ash Wednesday as announced by Vatican News staff reporter.
Speaking at the end of the General Audience, Pope Francis invited everyone to make 2 March, Ash Wednesday, a Day of Fasting for Peace.
“I encourage believers in a special way to dedicate themselves intensely to prayer and fasting on that day. May the Queen of Peace preserve the world from the madness of war,” he said.
