Throughout 23 years of Russian confinement—he was finally released on Oct. 12, 1963—Walter turned to God in prayer in every crisis.
Russia
Posted inPolitics & Society, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis makes dramatic appeal to Putin: Stop the war in Ukraine
Reflecting his profound concern at the danger of an escalation of the war in Ukraine and the potential use of nuclear arms, Pope Francis called today for “an immediate ceasefire” to that war.
Posted inFaith, News
Vatican secretary of state meets with Russian foreign minister at U.N. General Assembly
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Francis in Kazakhstan: ‘How many deaths will it take’ for peace to prevail in Ukraine?
Pope Francis told the Russian Orthodox hierarchy and other faith leaders Wednesday that religion must never be used to justify the “evil” of war.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Gorbachev and St. John Paul were key players in ending the Cold War—and greatly appreciated each other
When Mikhail Gorbachev, who died on Aug. 30, first met with Pope John Paul in December 1989, less than a month after the Berlin Wall’s collapse, the two leaders “understood each other immediately.”
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
‘The Ukrainian heart is torn by the pope’s words’: nuncio summoned over Francis’ comments on car bomb
Although Pope Francis repeatedly has spoken out on behalf of the Ukrainian people, this was not the first time Ukrainian officials have been upset with Pope Francis for what they see as equating the actions of the aggressor with the victim.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Pope Francis’ expected meeting with Patriarch Kirill is off after Russian Orthodox leader cancels Kazakhstan trip
The pope told the patriarch that “we are not clerics of the state, we cannot use the language of politics, but of Jesus.”
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
What Pope Francis’ meeting with a top Orthodox official could signal for Russia-Vatican relations
For the first time since the start of the war in Ukraine, Pope Francis received in a private audience this morning a top-ranking member of the Russian Orthodox Church, second only to patriarch Kirill of Moscow.
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Francis could meet with Patriarch Kirill in Kazakhstan, still hopes to visit Ukraine
Pope Francis will travel next month to Kazakhstan, where he could meet with Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, who has supported Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
The International Space Station was a symbol of solidarity. Its impending doom should worry us.
I get the sense that a monumental moment in history “passed us by” this week when Russia announced on Tuesday that it would withdraw from the International Space Station before the end of the decade.