A sombre Pope Francis issued his toughest condemnation yet of the invasion of Ukraine today, saying the "unacceptable armed aggression" and "massacre" must stop.
Pope France has not used the word " Russia " in his condemnations of the war since President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion on February 24.
But the pontiff's choice of words appears to increasingly take aim at Putin and reject Moscow's justifications for the invasion.
Speaking during his Sunday blessing, he said: "Faced with the barbarity of killing of children, of innocents and unarmed civilians, no strategic reasons can hold up."
Moscow claims its invasion is designed not to occupy territory but to demilitarise and "de-Nazify" its neighbour.
The nation has also denied targeting civilian areas.
Pope Francis said: "The only thing to do is stop this unacceptable armed aggression before it reduces cities into cemeteries.
"In the name of God, I ask you: stop this massacre!"
He called Ukraine's besieged port of Mariupol a "martyred city" and again appealed for "truly secure humanitarian corridors" to allow residents to evacuate.
Russia bombed a maternity hospital in Mariupol on Wednesday.
Ukraine said pregnant women were among those hurt.
Moscow said the hospital was no longer functioning and had been occupied by Ukrainian fighters.
But Pope Francis seemed particularly sombre during his recent address.
After an unusually brief greeting to groups in the square, he left the window on the top floor of the Apostolic Palace and returned to the papal library.
Russia calls its action a "special military operation".
Last Sunday Pope Francis implicitly rejected that term, saying it could not be considered "just a military operation".
But instead, he said it was a war that had unleashed "rivers of blood and tears".
On Sunday, Pope Francis also urged people to take in refugees from Ukraine and thanked those who had joined a "great network of solidarity" to help those fleeing the war.
The fighting in Ukraine has created more than 2.5 million refugees, with most taken in by Poland.
And after making Pope Francis wait for 50 minutes during their first meeting in 2013, Putin decided to extend his record and keep the head of the Catholic Church hanging around for even longer the second time.
