Pope visits Russia embassy to express concern

Pope Francis went to the Russian Embassy to the Holy See on Friday to "express his concern about the war," an extraordinary, hands-on papal gesture that came on the same day the Vatican announced he was cancelling other upcoming events because of an "acute" flareup of knee pain.

Usually popes receive ambassadors and heads of state at the Vatican, and diplomatic protocol would have called for the Vatican foreign minister to summon the ambassador to him. For Francis, the Vatican head of state, to leave the city state and travel a short distance to the Russian embassy to the Holy See was a sign of his anger at Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and his willingness to appeal personally for an end to it.

Vatican officials said they knew of no such previous papal initiative. Francis has called for dialogue to end the conflict and has urged the faithful to set next Wednesday as a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Ukraine. But he has refrained from publicly calling out Russia, presumably for fear of antagonising the Russian Orthodox Church.