The Vatican said that Pope Francis's comments on the death of Darya Dugina were meant to defend life, not affirm the Russian side of the war in Ukraine.

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.

The pope told the patriarch that “we are not clerics of the state, we cannot use the language of politics, but of Jesus.”

“Today, in a special way, six months since the start of the war, let us think of Ukraine and Russia, two countries I consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.... We need peace.”

After Pope Francis met with Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See, the ambassador suggested that a papal visit to that war-torn country may happen in the near future.

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.