Pope comments on strike on Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra without mentioning Russia

Pope Leo XIV. Photo: the Pope’s account on X

The head of the Roman Catholic Church reacted to the damage to sites of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra as a result of the recent shelling. On the social network X, the Pontiff mentioned the destruction of cultural heritage and the deaths of innocent people but refrained from making direct political accusations against Russia.

“There has been distressing news about the war in #Ukraine, which keeps expanding. There are many innocent victims, rescue workers killed, and churches and cultural heritage sites devastated by flames,” Leo XIV said. The Pontiff added that he is "close to all those who mourn their loved ones, to the wounded, and to those who continue to serve life with courage amid violence."

At the end of his message, he called on the faithful to ask God together to open “paths of dialogue,” extinguish hatred, and make a just and lasting peace possible.

In this sense, the post by the head of the Vatican coincided with a recent statement by an international organization that caused dissatisfaction among the Ukrainian authorities. Earlier, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized UNESCO for its official comment on the shelling. Ukrainian diplomats expressed outrage that the UNESCO text also did not mention Russia as the party responsible for the destruction.

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