Two white doves released by Pope Francis as a gesture of peace were set upon by a crow and a seagull moments after being freed from a window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
The incident took place on January 26, 2014, as tens of thousands of people gathered below to hear the pontiff speak. Francis had just appealed for peace in Ukraine, where anti-government protesters had d*ed in recent days, urging “the spirit of peace and the search for the common good” to prevail. Two children standing beside him released the doves immediately afterward as a traditional symbol of peace.
Within moments, a seagull and a large black crow swept down on the birds. One dove lost feathers as it broke free from the gull, while the crow pecked repeatedly at the other as it tried to escape toward the square. It was not clear what became of either dove as they flew off out of view of the crowd.
The episode was captured on camera and quickly spread around the world, with some commentators at the time describing it as an unsettling omen given the pope’s remarks on the violence unfolding in Ukraine. The Vatican did not alter the annual tradition of releasing doves during the Angelus prayer in the years that followed
