• Pope Francis, right, and Greek Catholic Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk deliver a blessing during the pontiff visit to the Basilica of Santa Sofia and to the Ukrainian greek-catholic community, in Rome, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. Photo: Gregorio Borgia, AP / Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Photo: Gregorio Borgia, AP
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Pope Francis, right, and Greek Catholic Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk deliver a blessing during the pontiff visit to the Basilica of Santa Sofia and to the Ukrainian greek-catholic community, in Rome, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. less
Pope Francis, right, and Greek Catholic Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk deliver a blessing during the pontiff visit to the Basilica of Santa Sofia and to the Ukrainian greek-catholic community, in Rome, Sunday, ... more
Photo: Gregorio Borgia, AP
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Pope Francis caresses a child during his visit to the Basilica of Santa Sofia and to the Ukrainian greek-catholic community, in Rome, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018.
Pope Francis caresses a child during his visit to the Basilica of Santa Sofia and to the Ukrainian greek-catholic community, in Rome, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018.
Photo: Gregorio Borgia, AP
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Pope Francis, background right, listens to Greek Catholic Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk during his visit to the Basilica of Santa Sofia and to the Ukrainian greek-catholic community, in Rome, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. less
Pope Francis, background right, listens to Greek Catholic Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk during his visit to the Basilica of Santa Sofia and to the Ukrainian greek-catholic community, in Rome, Sunday, Jan. 28, ... more
Photo: Gregorio Borgia, AP
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Pope Francis, right, walks with Greek Catholic Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk during his visit to the Basilica of Santa Sofia and to the Ukrainian greek-catholic community, in Rome, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018.
Pope Francis, right, walks with Greek Catholic Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk during his visit to the Basilica of Santa Sofia and to the Ukrainian greek-catholic community, in Rome, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018.
Photo: Gregorio Borgia, AP
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ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has hailed immigrant women who care for Italians' elderly and children and paid tribute to Catholics who perished because of their faith while Ukraine was under Soviet rule.

Francis reached out to the Ukrainian Catholic community in Rome on Sunday with a visit to a Ukrainian Greek-Catholic basilica. At the church, he greeted an archbishop he knows from Buenos Aires, which, like Rome, has a sizeable Ukrainian immigrant community.

Francis recalled that a Ukrainian prelate instructed him as a 12-year-old altar boy at a Buenos Aires church. He said he also studied the Ukrainian alphabet.

The pope told the faithful he understands their anguish for a homeland "scourged by war and economic difficulties." He prayed for an end to the deadly armed conflict in eastern Ukraine.