Pope Francis broke down in tears on Thursday as he mentioned the suffering of Ukrainians during a traditional prayer in central Rome.
The Pope’s voice began to tremble as he mentioned the Ukrainians and he had to stop, unable to speak, for about 30 seconds, but even when he resumed his prayers, his voice was “trembling.”
The crowd, including the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, who was by the pope’s side, applauded when they realized he could not speak and saw him crying.
“… once again I have to bring you the prayers of children, elders, fathers and mothers, young people of that martyred land, which is suffering a lot”.
As the media have pointed out, since Russia began its aggression in February, Francis has mentioned Ukraine in almost all of his public appearances and has become increasingly critical of Moscow.
On Wednesday, he compared the war in Ukraine to a Nazi operation that killed an estimated two million people, mostly Jews, in the early years of World War II.