An ambulance that was donated and blessed by Pope Francis is on its way to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, according to the Holy See press office.
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, on Saturday left for Lviv with the vehicle, which will be given to authorities in Lviv in an effort to provide relief to the city. Lviv has seen a stream of internally displaced Ukrainians arriving from the east.
On Thursday, the Pope issued strong criticism against countries for increasing military spending as Russia’s onslaught of Ukraine continues, branding it “madness.”
Speaking to an audience with the Italian Women’s Center in Rome, Pope Francis blamed the “shameful” war in Ukraine on the “old logic of power that still dominates the so-called geopolitics.”
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelsenky appealed to the Pope to visit the country, thanking the Pontiff for his “clear and strong position against the war” during an address Tuesday that was posted on the Ukrainian government’s Facebook page.