From the Pope

Pope Francis asked people to pray for his upcoming trip to Malta and to pray for an end to the "savage cruelty" of war.

God always forgives and joyously welcomes back everyone who returns to him, even after a life of mistakes and sin, Pope Francis said.

Russia's war on Ukraine and international reaction to it show how nations still attempt "to govern the world as a chessboard, where the powerful study moves to extend dominance to the detriment of others," Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis again condemned Russia's war on Ukraine, calling it a "senseless massacre" and "sacrilegious" attack on human life.

Pope Francis has asked bishops around the world to join him March 25 in consecrating Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, something bishops in every part of the globe had started announcing the minute they heard what the pope had planned.

Asking God to forgive all people tempted by violence, Pope Francis prayed for an end to the war in Ukraine and the fratricidal killing of both combatants and civilians caught in the crossfire.

Appealing again for an end to the war in Ukraine, Pope Francis said those who invoke God to promote or justify violence "profane his name."

Jesus' call for Christians to respond to hostility with love requires a strength that comes from above and not from within, Pope Francis said.