Pope Francis for the first time implicitly criticizes Putin over Ukraine

By Philip Pullella VALLETTA (Reuters) -Pope Francis came the closest he has yet to implicitly criticising President Vladimir Putin over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying on Saturday a "potentate" was fomenting conflicts for nationalist interests. Moscow says the action it launched on Feb. 24 is a "special military operation" designed not to occupy territory but to demilitarise and "denazify" its neighbour. Francis has already rejected that terminology, calling it a war. "From the east of Europe, from the land of the sunrise, the dark shadows of war have now spread. We had thought that invas...