JAKARTA - Pope Francis called for dialogue to prevail over partisan interests to resolve the West's stalemate with Russia, while leading prayers for Ukraine's peace on Wednesday.
Pope Francis on Sunday asked people of all faiths to pray on Wednesday for an end to the crisis, saying tensions threaten Europe's security and risk big repercussions.
"I ask you to pray for peace in Ukraine and to do so often throughout the day," Pope Francis said at his weekly general audience, adding that he hoped "wounds, fears, and divisions" could be overcome.
As people prayed in Ukraine and elsewhere, Pope Francis said he hoped "the petition that ascended to heaven today touches the minds and hearts of world leaders, so that dialogue can take place and the common good placed above partisan interests".
Pope Francis recalled that more than five million people died in Ukraine during the Second World War, saying the people there also suffered from hunger and "so much cruelty".
This is a clear reference to the estimated 3-4 million Ukrainians who died in the early 1930s, when Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin enacted collectivization of agriculture and other policies aimed at destroying Ukrainian nationalism.
The tragedy which is recognized by some countries as a form of genocide is called the Holodomor and is also known as the Terror-Famine or the Great Famine.
"They are a people who suffer," the Pope said of the Ukrainians.
On Wednesday evening, the Vatican's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, led a prayer service for peace in Ukraine at a Rome basilica attended by the Russian ambassador to the Vatican, as well as the charge d'affaires of the Ukrainian and US embassies.
In his homily, Bishop Gallagher said: "It is even more shameful that those who have suffered the most from the conflict are not those who decided to start it, but above all, the unarmed victims."
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To note, Western leaders have stepped up military preparations and made plans to protect Europe, from a potential energy supply shock if Russia invades Ukraine.
Meanwhile, top US and Russian diplomats on Friday failed to make a major breakthrough in talks to resolve the crisis, although they agreed to continue talking.
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