ROME — Pope Francis denounced Russia’s “cruel and senseless war” on Ukraine Sunday, praying for Ukrainian victims and refugees.
“May there be peace for war-torn Ukraine, so sorely tried by the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged,” the pontiff prayed in his yearly Easter Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world) blessing before a crowd of 50,000 in Saint Peter’s Square.
