During his April 6 general audience, Pope Francis criticized the UN for its failure to stop the war in Ukraine. “In the current war in Ukraine, we are witnessing the impotence of the organizations of the United Nations,” he said.

The following day, Alessandro Gisotti, vice director of the Editorial Directorate at the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, published an editorial emphasizing papal support for the UN.

“Pope Francis strongly believes in the role of the United Nations and the value of multilateralism,” said Gisotti. “Pope Francis has repeatedly made gestures and words in support of the United Nations, encouraging a process of reform that is requested in particular by those countries, by those peoples, who suffer most from the consequences of that powerlessness to which the Pope referred.”