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A photograph taken on July 3, 2022 shows an tail section of a 300mm rocket which appear to contained cluster bombs launched from a BM-30 Smerch multiple rocket launcher embedded in the ground after shelling in Kramatorsk, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Biden administration to send cluster bombs to Ukraine: What has the Church said?

Jul 7, 2023

By Peter Pinedo

Cluster bombs are mass casualty arms that present a grave threat to civilians both because of their large impact area... Read more

Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna, during a consistory Oct. 5, 2019.

Cardinal Zuppi to go to Moscow this week as Pope Francis’ peace envoy

Jun 27, 2023

By Courtney Mares

Zuppi will arrive in Russia’s capital less than one week after a paramilitary organization known as the Wagner Group rebelled... Read more

Pope Francis’ envoy to Ukraine Cardinal Matteo Zuppi on June 6, 2023, finished a “brief but intense” two-day visit to Kyiv, which included a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Papal envoy to Ukraine meets with President Zelenskyy, concludes ‘intense’ visit

Jun 6, 2023

By Kevin J. Jones

Pope Francis’ envoy to Ukraine Cardinal Matteo Zuppi on Tuesday finished a “brief but intense” two-day visit to Kyiv. Read more

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, Italy.

Cardinal Zuppi arrives in Ukraine to begin work as Vatican peace envoy

Jun 5, 2023

By Courtney Mares

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi arrived in Kyiv on Monday to carry out the peace mission entrusted to him by Pope Francis. Read more

Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna, was made a cardinal during the consistory of Oct. 5, 2019.

Vatican: Italian cardinal entrusted with Ukraine peace mission

May 20, 2023

By Hannah Brockhaus

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi has strong ties to the influential Sant’Egidio Community, which has helped negotiate reconciliation in countries like South... Read more

Pope Francis and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Will Pope Francis meet Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy this weekend?

May 12, 2023

By Hannah Brockhaus

While the Vatican has not confirmed the meeting, diplomatic sources reportedly expect it. Read more

Metropolitan Anthony, chairman for external church relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, greets Pope Francis after his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square on May 3, 2023.

Pope Francis greets Russian Orthodox metropolitan after audience

May 3, 2023

By Hannah Brockhaus

The brief encounter in St. Peter’s Square with Metropolitan Anthony took place days after the pope said secret peace talks... Read more

Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal meets Pope Francis in a private, 30-minute encounter at the Vatican on the morning of April 27, 2023.

Ukraine’s prime minister asks Pope Francis to help bring back children taken to Russia

Apr 27, 2023

By Hannah Brockhaus

Ukraine’s prime minister told journalists Thursday that he has asked Pope Francis for help getting back children forcibly deported to... Read more

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Ukraine faults Vatican for ‘equating victim and aggressor’ during Way of the Cross

Apr 10, 2023

By Jonah McKeown

A Ukraine foreign ministry spokesman criticized a Vatican decision to have the words of two young people from Ukraine and... Read more

Pope Francis reads the Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in St. Peter’s Basilica, March 25, 2022.

Pope Francis asked Catholics to renew Marian consecration every March 25. Here’s what that means

Mar 24, 2023

By Jonah McKeown

March 25 marks one year since Pope Francis consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Read more

Pope Francis prays at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal on May 12, 2017.

Pope Francis invites Catholics to renew consecration to Immaculate Heart of Mary on March 25

Mar 22, 2023

By Courtney Mares

The solemnity of the Annunciation on Saturday marks one year since Pope Francis consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Blessed... Read more

Pope Francis prays in St. Peter's Square on March 8, 2023.

Pope Francis says imprisonment of Nicaraguan bishop reminds him of Hitler’s dictatorship

Mar 10, 2023

By Courtney Mares

Pope Francis also speaks about Russia's “imperial” agenda, his thoughts on retirement, and Benedict XVI's funeral in a new round... Read more

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Spokesman for Russian Catholic bishops: ‘There is no foreseeable solution’ to Ukraine war

Feb 27, 2023

By Ana Paula Morales

Father Kirill Gorbunov said that “the majority of the people are suffering” and that “after a year of war [with... Read more

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France

European court: Russia violated human rights by not legally recognizing gay unions

Feb 6, 2023

By Tyler Arnold

Three couples claimed Russia’s failure to recognize their request for homosexual marriages violated the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. Read more

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky receives from U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (L) a US national flag during his address to the U.S. Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 21, 2022.

With Zelenskyy in the U.S., faith leaders sign petition calling for a ‘Christmas truce’

Dec 21, 2022

By Katie Yoder

One thousand faith leaders have signed a petition that asks the Biden administration to push for a “negotiated settlement” to... Read more

Vladimir Putin / Credit: Flickr from Global Panorama (CC BY-SA 2.0)  Pope Francis / Daniel Ibañez, ACI Press

Russia is ‘willing’ to speak with Pope Francis about the war in Ukraine

Oct 26, 2022

By CNA Staff

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov said his government is willing to talk with Pope Francis, the U.S., and France to... Read more

Pope Francis dedicated nearly all of his Angelus address on Oct. 1 to the war in Ukraine.

Pope Francis appeals to Putin for an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine

Oct 2, 2022

By Courtney Mares

Speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace on Oct. 2, the pope dedicated nearly all of his Angelus address... Read more

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The geopolitics of Pope Francis’ trip to Kazakhstan

Sep 12, 2022

By Courtney Mares

This week Pope Francis is traveling to Kazakhstan, a Muslim-majority country sandwiched between Russia and China. Read more

Pope Francis’ general audience in St. Peter’s Square, June 8, 2022.

Pope Francis: Russia’s use of mercenaries in Ukraine is ‘monstrous’

Jun 14, 2022

By CNA Staff

In a new interview, the pope suggested the Ukraine war was ‘perhaps somehow either provoked or not prevented.’ Read more

Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican, Dec. 22, 2021

Metropolitan Hilarion moved in Russian Orthodox Church shake-up

Jun 7, 2022

By Luke Coppen

He had served as the Russian Orthodox Church’s chief ecumenical official since 2009. Read more