Rome Newsroom, Apr 3, 2024 / 12:30 pm
Pope Francis held in his hands a rosary and New Testament that belonged to a slain 23-year-old Ukrainian soldier as he appealed for peace during his general audience on Wednesday.
Speaking in St. Peter’s Square on April 3, the pope revealed that the rosary belonged to a boy named Oleksandre, who was killed in Avdiïvka in eastern Ukraine.
He said that Oleksandre had also carried a small book containing the New Testament and the Psalms with him to the front lines of the war in Ukraine.
“In the book of Psalms, he had underlined Psalm 130, ‘Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice,’” Pope Francis said.