Pope Francis prayed in front of about 240 people, the guests for a showing of a 2022 documentary by film director Evgeny Afineevsky: “Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom.”
The director invited refugees, the poor, and Ukrainians living in Rome to attend the Feb. 24 screening, which took place in the Vatican’s New Synod Hall.
Some of the people featured in the documentary were also present at the showing.
“When God made man, he said to take the earth and make it grow, make it beautiful. The spirit of war is the opposite: destroying, destroying, not letting it grow, destroying everyone — men, women, children, the elderly, everyone,” the pope said in off-the-cuff remarks at the event.
“Today marks a year of this war,” he said. “Let us look at Ukraine, pray for Ukraine and open our hearts to sorrow. Let us not be ashamed to grieve and mourn, for a war is destruction, a war always diminishes us. May God make us understand this.”
