Pope Francis on November 26 called the Holodomor a “lacerating wound” that has been made even more painful for Ukraine by the ongoing war.
Speaking at the Vatican one day after Ukraine's Holodomor Remembrance Day, Francis noted that "tormented" Ukraine commemorated "the genocide perpetrated by the Soviet regime which, 90 years ago, caused millions of people to starve to death.”
Russia on November 25 launched the largest wave of drone attacks on Ukraine since the start of the war as Ukraine commemorated the 1932–33 famine in Soviet Ukraine under dictator Josef Stalin that killed millions.
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Ukrainians Commemorate Stalin-Era Man-Made Famine
Ukraine said its air defenses it shot down 74 out of a total of 75 drones launched by Russia, with Kyiv bearing the brunt of the attack.
Pope Francis, 86, made the televised remarks from a chapel in the Vatican after skipping his weekly Sunday appearance at a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square because of what he said was a lung inflammation.
The Vatican said on November 25 that Francis had to cancel all appointments due to a "mild flu."
Francis urged the faithful to continue to pray tirelessly for all peoples torn apart by conflicts, saying that “prayer is the force of peace that stops the spiral of hatred” and opens unexpected paths of reconciliation.
He also noted the four-day truce between Israel and Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the EU.
“Let us thank God that there is finally a truce between Israel and Palestine, and some hostages have been freed. Let us pray that they will all be freed as soon as possible,” he said.
The pontiff also said he would go later this week to Dubai to address the COP28 climate change conference, saying that besides war climate change is “another great danger…which puts life on Earth, especially for the future generations, at risk.”