By tempering his rhetoric on Ukraine, the pope is protecting his role as a peacemaker. He is also downplaying any conflict between Western Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

Answering a question from America's Vatican correspondent, Pope Francis indicated he has not spoken directly to President Putin since the war started.

“If Putin says something on Tuesday, the Russian Patriarch has to say the same thing on Wednesday but just putting the word ‘God’ into the sentence,” David Nazar, S.J., said in an exclusive interview with Gerard O’Connell.

Why one Orthodox patriarch can denounce Russia’s invasion of Ukraine even while another supports it

The war is not about Russia capturing Ukraine; it is about Russia challenging the Western world, which Mr. Putin and Patriarch Kirill both regard as evil.

On this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell and host Colleen Dulle discuss Pope Francis’ latest moves against the war in Ukraine.