Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin expressed surprise and sorrow at the news of the death of prominent Russian dissident Alexei Navalny. “I saw it on the news. What can I say? I am very sorry; I thought the matter could have been resolved differently. Instead, this news surprises us and fills us with Read more
Pope Francis has entrusted Cardinal Matteo Zuppi (pictured) to head the Russia and Ukraine peace mission on behalf of the Vatican, the Holy See press office said on Saturday. Zuppi is a prominent Italian cardinal known for his close association with the pontiff. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni announced the development on Saturday, revealing that the Read more
A senior Russian priest said many young Catholics fear being forced into conscription along with their priests to join the war against Ukraine. The priest, who asked not to be named, also dismissed President Vladimir Putin’s threats of nuclear war as “just words”. “Although I’m not a military person, I don’t think the Russian army Read more
It is madness, said Pope Francis when he heard Russia was threatening to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West he is not bluffing about using the weapons of mass destruction. He ordered Russia’s first mobilisation since World War Two and backed a plan to annex swathes of Read more
Pope Francis has given Russia’s President Vladimir Putin the edge of his tongue for launching a “savage” war. Rather than use the Russian president’s name, Francis instead referred to Putin as “some potentate” who had unleashed the threat of nuclear war on the world in an “infantile and destructive aggression” under the guise of “anachronist Read more
Ukrainian people’s gay pride and sinful behaviour caused the Russian invasion into their country, says Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill. Taking to the pulpit Kirill told the people that spiritual danger justified his country’s invasion of Ukraine. Depicting the war in spiritual terms, he said, “We have entered into a struggle that has not a physical, Read more
Caught up in the escalation, will Vladimir Putin dare to resort to nuclear strikes? If he gives in to this ultimate vertigo, he will not fail to invoke Seraphim of Sarov, the Slavic Francis of Assisi whom Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow, consecrated as patron saint of Russia’s nuclear arsenal. A controversial characteristic? The two potentates Read more
Expressing great sadness at the worsening situation in Ukraine, Pope Francis asked world leaders on Wednesday to make a “serious examination of conscience before God”. During his general audience on February 23, the pope called for people to fast for peace on March 2, Ash Wednesday. He prayed that “the Queen of Peace will preserve Read more
Enshrining faith in God and heterosexual marriage in the Russian constitution has been proposed by Russia’s president Vladimir Putin. Another constitutional change he proposes was that the constitution’s amendments should also stipulate that marriage is a union of a man and woman. The State Duma, Russia’s lower parliamentary house, approved the constitutional reform bill’s first Read more
In a scene more bizarre than any of this conspiracy theories, Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to be his 22-year-old daughter’s godfather. “Does she want to become an Orthodox Christian?” Putin said when Stone suggested the idea during a sit-down in Moscow on June 19. “We’ll make her that [Orthodox],” Stone Read more