Rome: As the world teeters under the weight of war, displacement and disillusionment, the death of Pope Francis this week was not just a religious milestone but a moment that seems almost biblical in its timing.

On Saturday, in St Peter’s Square, an extraordinary gathering will unfold – one of the most historically charged funerals in living memory. World leaders, adversaries and allies alike will sit shoulder to shoulder to mourn the death of a pope who, for over a decade, sought to reconcile the irreconcilable.

Among them, US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and dignitaries representing both war rooms and refugee camps. Their presence is a potent final symbol of Francis’s legacy: a man who often failed to say enough, but who tried – sometimes quietly, sometimes stubbornly – to act.

Pope Francis exchanges gifts with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska during a private audience at the Vatican in 2020.Credit: AP

While the late pontiff, who died aged 88 on Easter Monday, has been remembered as a champion of the poor, of climate change and of inclusion, his papacy unfolded under the long, grim shadow of conflict – particularly the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which erupted into full-scale violence nine years into his reign. From the beginning, his response was both bold and baffling.

On February 25, 2022, just one day after Russian forces rolled into Ukraine, Francis made an unannounced visit to the Russian embassy in Rome. Breaking with Vatican diplomatic protocol, he went in person to express concern and call for peace. The gesture was unprecedented, but it also raised questions. He didn’t name Russian President Vladimir Putin. He didn’t outright condemn the invasion. The ambiguity would come to define his response.

By May, that ambiguity turned into controversy. Francis suggested NATO’s expansion might have “provoked” the Kremlin – remarks that seemed to echo Russian talking points. When asked about the morality of supplying Ukraine with weapons, he dodged, criticising the global arms trade but declining to speak directly on the matter. Many in Ukraine and throughout Eastern Europe were outraged. They wanted clarity. What they got was........

© The Sydney Morning Herald