Italian press says Pope wants to meet Putin and has warning for Kirill

While Pope Francis said in an interview a few weeks ago that a pope doesn't normally call out a head of state by name, and less so, a specific country, an account of an interview with him published May 3 in the Italian press attributes to him some sharp statements.

The Holy Father has already made clear that he's deeply concerned about the war in Ukraine, both because of the suffering borne by real individuals, whose dreams and livelihoods have been wrecked, and because of the repercussions for the globe with the possibility of greater escalation.

In the account of the conversation with Corriere della Sera (which also published an English-language translation), the Pope says he's asked to meet with Russian President Putin.

Corriere della Sera presents the Pope as grappling with Putin's motives.

According to the Italian newspaper, the Pope's perhaps harshest words are for his fellow Christian leader, the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill. While accounts of both his video meeting with Kirill and the cancellation of a face-to-face meeting between the two have already been reported, Corriere della Sera says the Pope recounted it like this:

The Pope has made no secret of his concern with the arms race and the way international interests are allowed to wreak havoc in the lives of ordinary people. In this conversation, he says it takes boldness to stand up to this exchange.

The conversation began with a theme that has been much on the Pope's mind: his ailing knee. The newspaper reported that the Holy Father today will begin a series of injections to try to address the issue.