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Pope’s Ukraine diplomacy a political and spiritual tightrope

Pope Francis, with Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, right, and a translator attend a video call with Patriarch Kirill, at right on the monitor, and Metropolitan Hilarion, Wednesday, March 16, 2022. Pope Francis hasn’t made much of a diplomatic mark in Russia’s war in Ukraine as his appeals for an Orthodox Easter truce went unheeded and a planned meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church was canceled. (Vatican Media via AP) FILE — In this Friday, Feb. 12, 2016 file photo, Pope Francis, left, reaches to embrace Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill after signing a joint declaration at the Jose Marti International airport in Havana, Cuba. Pope Francis hasn’t made much of a diplomatic mark in Russia’s war in Ukraine as his appeals for an Orthodox Easter truce went unheeded and a planned meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church was canceled. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, Pool) FILE — In this Friday, Feb. 12, 2016 file photo, Pope Francis, left, reaches to embrace Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill after signing a joint declaration at the Jose Marti International airport in Havana, Cuba. Pope Francis hasn’t made much of a diplomatic mark in Russia’s war in Ukraine as his appeals for an Orthodox Easter truce went unheeded and a planned meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church was canceled. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, Pool) FILE — In this Friday, Feb. 12, 2016 file photo, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, left, and Pope Francis talk during their meeting at the Jose Marti airport in Havana, Cuba. Pope Francis hasn’t made much of a diplomatic mark in Russia’s war in Ukraine as his appeals for an Orthodox Easter truce went unheeded and a planned meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church was canceled. (Adalberto Roque/Pool photo via AP)
Pope’s Ukraine diplomacy a political and spiritual tightrope