VATICAN CITY, (Reuters) – Pope Francis described Sunday’s war in Ukraine as a “macabre regression in humanity”, which makes him “suffer” and “cry”, calling for humanitarian corridors in order to rescue people who are trapped at the Mariupol steelworks.

Francis implicitly criticized Russia again when he spoke to thousands of people at St. Peter’s Square during his noon blessing. He said that Mariupol was “barbarously bombed and decimated”.