Pope Francis for the primary time implicitly criticises Putin over Ukraine

Pope Francis got here the closest he has but to implicitly criticising President Vladimir Putin over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying on Saturday a “potentate” was fomenting conflicts for nationalist pursuits.

Moscow says the motion it launched on Feb. 24 is a “special military operation” designed to not occupy territory however to demilitarise and “denazify” its neighbour. Francis has already rejected that terminology, calling it a warfare.

“From the east of Europe, from the land of the sunrise, the dark shadows of war have now spread. We had thought that invasions of other countries, savage street fighting and atomic threats were grim memories of a distant past,” the pope stated in an deal with to Maltese officers after arriving on the Mediterranean island nation for a two-day go to.

“However, the icy winds of war, which bring only death, destruction and hatred in their wake, have swept down powerfully upon the lives of many people and affected us all,” he stated.