Pope Francis made his strongest statement to date against the war in Ukraine during his public audience on November 23, comparing the conflict to the genocide of the Stalin era.

“Saturday begins the anniversary of the terrible genocide of the Holodomor, the extermination by starvation artificially caused by Stalin between 1932-1933,” Pope Francis said on November 23. “Let us pray for the victims of this genocide and let us pray for so many Ukrainians — children, women, elderly, babies — who today are suffering the martyrdom of aggression.”