In a message to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Francis asked him to "be open" to serious peace talks.
The pope implored the international community to "use all diplomatic instruments" to end the war, describing the seven months of fighting as a "huge tragedy" and "horror."
More than six months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose forces began an offensive in August, has vowed to take back all Russian-occupied territory. But Putin in September announced a mobilization of reservists, which is expected to call up as many as 300,000 additional troops.
In his Sunday Mass at the Vatican, Pope Francis directed his sermon at Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying, "stop this spiral of violence and death" in Ukraine. Speaking to worshipers in St. Peter's Square, the pontiff denounced Putin's veiled threats of nuclear war as "absurd," according to The Associated Press.
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