How are negotiations possible, Father Andriy Zelinskyy asked, when the Russian opening position is: “Either you do what we want or we kill you.”

Throughout 23 years of Russian confinement—he was finally released on Oct. 12, 1963—Walter turned to God in prayer in every crisis.

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.

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.

Pope Francis told the Russian Orthodox hierarchy and other faith leaders Wednesday that religion must never be used to justify the “evil” of war.

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.”