Pope urges ‘sincere’ effort for peace 

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican says Pope Francis has urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to commit himself to a “sincere and great effort” for peace in Ukraine. A statement issued after the pontiff and Mr. Putin met for about 50 minutes in the Vatican on June 10 added that the two agreed on the need to recreate a climate of dialogue and to implement the Minsk agreement, a peace deal struck in the Belarusian capital earlier this year. Pope Francis presented Mr. Putin with an “angel of peace” medallion. “It is the angel who wins all wars and speaks of solidarity between all peoples,” the pontiff told the Russian leader. It was the men’s second meeting since Francis became pope in 2013. Ahead of the talks, the leader of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Patriarch Sviatoslav, expressed hope that the talks between Mr. Putin and the pope “will help to stop war in Ukraine.” Patriarch Sviatoslav told reporters in Warsaw on June 9 that he believed that Christians should strive to promote peace and reconciliation, and that his parishioners prayed every day for peace in Ukraine’s east, where more than 6,400 people have been killed in just over a year of fighting between Ukrainian armed forces and pro-Russian separatists. “Ukraine’s independence is a matter of European security and peace in the European Union,” the primate told journalists, adding that Pope Francis was well-informed about what is happening in Ukraine, and calling the pontiff’s meeting with Putin “one way to stop this war.” He added, “We, Catholics, believe that the holy father, as a follower of Christ on Earth, has a special grace of the Holy Spirit, which will not allow the continuation of this aggression and war.” The U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Kenneth Hackett, said Washington “would like to see the Vatican increase its” concern about events in Ukraine. “We think they could say something more about concern of territorial integrity, those types of issues,” Mr. Hackett said. “It does seem that Russia is supporting the insurgents. And it does seem that there are Russian troops inside Ukraine. This is a very serious situation.” (RFE/RL, with reporting by Interfax, TASS, Reuters, Deutsche Press-Agentur, the Associated Press and News.ugcc.ua)