Democracy Dies in Darkness

Ukraine calls out Pope Francis over ‘white flag’ remarks

Updated March 11, 2024 at 1:12 a.m. EDT|Published March 10, 2024 at 11:37 p.m. EDT
Pope Francis shows a flag that was brought to him from Bucha, Ukraine, during a weekly audience at the Vatican in April 2022. (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)
4 min

Leaders in Ukraine vehemently rejected Pope Francis’s suggestion of negotiations with Russia to bring an end to the war — his use of the words “white flag” drawing particular scorn — reiterating that the country would never surrender.

In a recent interview, Francis used the term “white flag,” repeating the words of a journalist, which some read as a call to surrender.