Describing Pope Francis as “as maybe the one person who could end this [war],” Ambassador Joe Donnelly said in an interview that Pope Francis told him, “I am willing to try anything to bring peace. I will go to Moscow. I will go to Kyiv.”

Turning to other topics, Ambassador Donnelly sand that “he United States has a clear position regarding China: that China has violated human rights, has violated religious freedoms of Muslims, Catholic worshippers, and in trying to influence the future of Tibet. We expressed that to the Vatican.”

“Cardinal Zen is someone that is a beacon of freedom to our country, that has spoken truth to power and is being punished for that,” the ambassador added, as he acknowledged that “the United States has been much more vocal [than the Vatican] in condemning China about these things, and about Cardinal Zen.”