Pope Francis failed to call out Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during his visit Saturday to the revered shrine in the Portuguese town of Fatima for World Youth Day.

The pope ditched his prepared remarks and did not even publicly recite a prayer that had been written for the occasion.

Instead he “prayed silently for peace, with pain,” while meditating before the statue of the Virgin Mary at the site associated with apocalyptic prophesies, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.

He did not condemn Russia’s war in Ukraine or publicly pray for peace during his visit, drawing some consternation from some of the estimated 200,000 who packed the town’s central esplanade before the sun rose to get a chance to see the pontiff.

Catholics believe that three young peasant children saw visions of the Virgin Mary at Fatima in 1917 — which in time turned the small town into one of the most popular Marian pilgrimage locations in the world, drawing millions in each year.

The children, siblings Francisco and Jacinta Marto and their cousin Lucia, said that the Madonna appeared before them six times and told them three secrets — the first two describing an apocalyptic picture of hell, predicting the end of World War I and the start of World War II, and warned of the rise and fall of Soviet Communism, according to the legend.

The Vatican disclosed the third secret in 2000, describing it as a prediction of the May 13, 1981 assassination attempt on St. John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square — which occurred on the anniversary of the vision.

One of the children become a nun as an adult. She said that one of the prophecies had been that peace would reign on Earth Russia, which turned to Communism the same year as the visions, was converted and the nation was consecrated to the “Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

Before the pope’s visit to the shrine, Vatican Media said Francis would pray for peace in Ukraine and the world while in Fatima.

His prayer, posted by the Pontifex Twitter account, did not however identify either country by name, but consecrated the church and world, “especially those countries at war,” to Mary.

“Open paths where it seems that none exist,” it continued. “Loosen the tangles of self-centeredness and the snares of power.”

With Post Wires.