Pope Francis speaks out on ‘shameful’ Ukraine invasion after breaking protocol

Pope Francis has called the invasion of Ukraine a “shameful capitulation” after he broke protocol with an act that surprised the world.

The Pope has spoken out about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying war is a “shameful capitulation”.

It comes after the head of the Roman Catholic Church surprised the world by personally expressing his concerns.

An English and Russian message was posted to Pope Francis’ Twitter account on Saturday morning, alongside the hashtags #PrayTogether and #Ukraine.

“Every war leaves our world worse than it was before,” he wrote.

“War is a failure of politics and of humanity, and a shameful capitulation, a stinging defeat before the forces of evil.”

Pope Francis has called war a “shameful capitulation”, speaking out over the invasion of Ukraine. Picture: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP

The public message came after Pope Francis made a surprise visit to the Russian embassy to the Holy See to personally express his “concern over the war” on Friday.

A spokesman for the Vatican confirmed the Pope arrived in a white car and remained in the building on Via della Conciliazione for over half an hour.

The act has been labelled “remarkable” and an “extraordinary gesture”, as it broke protocol and is believed to have no recent precedent.

Protocol would have called for the Vatican foreign minister to summon the ambassador, according to Associated Press.

A wounded woman stands outside a hospital after the bombing of the eastern Ukraine town of Chuguiv. Picture: Aris Messinis/AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, calling it a “military operation”.

The death toll on the Ukrainian side has soared to more than 1000, with civilians included in the grim tally.

Ukraine’s capital city, Kyiv, faced a barrage of missile attacks overnight, with terrified residents forced to seek shelter and citizens urged by authorities to assemble homemade bombs in a desperate bid to protect their homes.

Ahead of the invasion, the Pope said that the threat of war in the pro-Western country caused “great pain in my heart”.

He condemned actions “destabilising coexistence among nations and discrediting international law” and appealed at the end of his weekly general audience for those “with political responsibility to examine their consciences seriously before God”.

– with AFP

Originally published as Pope Francis speaks out on ‘shameful’ Ukraine invasion after breaking protocol