Pope shows off rosary of slain Ukrainian soldier, denounces ‘madness of war’

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has led thousands of people in a moment of silence to pray for the aid workers killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza. At the end of his general audience Wednesday, Francis also showed tourists and pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square the rosary and New Testament book that a 23-year-old Ukrainian soldier named Oleksandre had with him when he was killed in the eastern city of Avdijevka. He asked for a moment of silence “thinking of this kid and so many like him, killed in this madness of war.”