Pope Francis visits Russian embassy to express “his concern about the war” in Ukraine

This Friday, the Pope Francisco visited the embassy of Russia before the Holy See to express “his concern about the war” in Ukraine. This is an unusual gesture that the Supreme Pontiff has given the global situation, despite the fact that he has had to cancel all his commitments due to severe pain in his knee.

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The 85-year-old Argentine pontiff went to the headquarters of the Russian embassy to the Holy See, a few meters from the Vatican, to tell the ambassador Alexander Avdeyev his “worry about war” following the early Thursday invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, a papal spokesman reported.

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The pope, who canceled this Friday his trip to Florence, in central Italy, due to acute knee pain (gonalgia), appeared by car at the diplomatic headquarters, a few meters from Saint Peter’s Square , where he remained for more than half an hour, specified the Vatican news page, Vatican News.

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The news was later confirmed by the Russian ambassador, who in statements to the media in his country, assured that The pope expressed above all his concern “for the children, the sick and all who suffer”·

For his part, the correspondent of the Argentine news agency Telam, who was present at the Pope’s arrival, confirmed the meeting with Ambassador Avdeev, which many have interpreted as a gesture in favor of papal mediation.

The pontiff, who on Wednesday asked “preserve the world from the madness of war”, on numerous occasions he has issued calls for peace and against war and has so far avoided directly condemning the parties involved.

On Thursday, a few hours after the attack on Ukraine by Russian troops, the Vatican considered that “there was still room to negotiate”, “to find a peaceful solution to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict”.

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room for negotiation

”The tragic scenarios that everyone feared are unfortunately becoming reality. But there is still time for good will, there is still room for negotiation”, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State and Vatican number two, said in a statement.

Some Italian editorialists have rightly recalled the mediation of Pope John XXIII, exactly 50 years ago, which helped defuse a third world war after the missile crisis in Cuba that brought the United States to the brink of a confrontation with the then Soviet Union.

The Argentine pope’s gesture was made the same day he had to announce the cancellation of his trip to Florence (central Italy) due to acute knee pain.

“Due to acute knee pain for which the doctor has prescribed a period of increased rest for the leg, Pope Francis will not be able to travel to Florence on Sunday, February 27, nor preside over the Ash Wednesday celebrations, March 2.”, the Vatican explained in a statement.

Francis was scheduled to travel to Florence on Sunday to attend a meeting with bishops and mayors from the countries of the Mediterranean basin, meet with refugee families and then celebrate Mass in the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Florence.

It was the first pilgrimage of the year, since he is scheduled to visit the island of Malta on April 2 and 3, the first abroad.

The Argentine pontiff, who underwent colon surgery in 2021 and had part of a lung removed during his youth, suffers from chronic sciatica that forces him to limp conspicuously.

This is not the first time that he has had to cancel official ceremonies due to his health ailments and severe pain, which unleashes all kinds of rumours.

According to the Savia digital health page, knee pain is the general term used to refer to pain in the knees due to traumatic or non-traumatic causes.

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Source: Elcomercio

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