The pope continues to express his desire to visit Ukraine, but remains cognizant of political and practical limitations to this objective.

“The church of Odesa shares the pain of its inhabitants. The church is not a building; it is people,” said Archpriest Maximian Pogorelovskiy, a spokesperson for the Orthodox Diocese of Odesa.

“You realize that the rest of the world is looking toward Pope Francis as maybe the one person who could end this [war], who could bring peace,” Ambassador Donnelly told Gerard O’Connell.

The world is at war, but we must think about the post-war world. We should not repeat old mistakes and underestimate the spiritual energy of the world’s religions.

We include fragments of poems that, while not contest finalists, provide one more way for America to shine a light on the ongoing horror in Ukraine.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle discuss the religious implications of the Russia-Ukraine war and how it threatens work towards Christian unity.