Pope open to helping return Ukrainian children in Russia
Pope Francis says the Vatican is willing to help facilitate the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russia during the war
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis said Sunday the Vatican was willing to help facilitate the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russia during the war, saying the Holy See had already helped mediate some prisoner exchanges and would do “all that is humanly possible” to reunite families.
“All human gestures help. Gestures of cruelty don’t help,” Francis said during an airborne press conference en route home from Hungary.
Francis also revealed a secret peace “mission” was under way. However, he gave no details when asked whether he spoke about peace initiatives during his talks in Budapest this weekend with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban or the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Hungary.
“I’m available to do anything,” Francis said. “There’s a mission that’s not public that’s underway; when it’s public I’ll talk about it.”
