During Sunday prayer on Dec. 15, Pope Francis referred to Russia and Ukraine as "brothers," while reiterating calls for peace Russia’s war against Ukraine. "They are brothers, cousins. Let them come to an understanding.

Christmas revellers around the world donned red and white Santa hats, offered meals to the homeless and lit candles on Wednesday, as Pope Francis launched observation of the global holiday with a sombre mass in the Vatican.

Putting aggressors and victims on the same level is "ethically and morally wrong," said commenter Anton Gerashchenko in response to the pope's words.

The latest is a special gift as Christmas draws near: a vehicle converted into a small mobile hospital to care for the inhabitants of this country devastated by war. The person in charge of delivering the vehicle where the injured can be operated on will be the pope’s almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajweski.

Ukrainian artist Yama Tarhonia has presented Pope Francis with a blue and yellow dove of peace made from a piece of stained glass from the Church of St Nicholas in Kyiv, which was damaged in a Russian attack on 20024.

Ukraine said Russia had attacked it with 60 drones overnight, of which 36 were downed, 23 were jammed by electronic warfare and one was still in the air.

United States President Joe Biden will visit Italy in January, where he will meet with Pope Francis and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to discuss global peace efforts and various international challenges.

I think of Gaza with great sorrow; so much cruelty, children hit by machine guns, schools and hospitals bombed,’ pontiff says - Anadolu Ajansı

Pope Francis is set to open the Holy Year of the Catholic Church in St Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday evening. The 88-year-old pontiff in a solemn ceremony

The papal point man for charity, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, opened a soup kitchen in Fastiv, in Ukraine's Kyiv region, Dec. 23 and was heading east to Kharkiv to spend Christmas "in the city where Russian bombs fell first and the war started" on Feb.