“I wanted to make a clear gesture”
“Instead of Putin, whom I did not call on the first day of the war, I called the President of Ukraine Zelensky. I spoke to him (Putin – socialbites.ca) on my birthday in December, but this time no, I did not call. I wanted to make a clear gesture that everyone would see, and I went to the Russian ambassador for it. I asked him to explain, I said please stop I said Pope Francis in an interview with the Corriere della Sera.
According to him, “after twenty days of war”, the Vatican asked Foreign Minister Cardinal Parolin “to convey to Putin the Pope’s message “ready to go to Moscow”.
“Of course, several windows had to be provided to the Kremlin leader. Although I fear that Putin cannot and does not want to hold this meeting at the moment, we have not received a response yet and we continue to insist. But how can such cruelty be stopped? said the priest.
He stressed that he would not “go to Kiev yet”, but sent Cardinal Michael Czerny, head of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integrated Human Development, and Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, head of the Pontifical Goodwill Service, to Ukraine, “they went there. fourth time.”
“But I feel like I don’t need to go. I have to go to Moscow first, I have to meet with Putin first. But I’m also a priest, what can I do? I’ll do my best. If Putin opens the door,” said the head of the Catholic Church.
Commenting on the Pope’s statements, Russian Ambassador to the Vatican Alexander Avdeev told RIA Novosti that “dialogue with the Pope is important for Moscow in any international situation” and that the head of the Catholic Church himself is “always a welcome interlocutor”.
The reason for NATO special operations
Pope Francis is also concerned that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not stop his military special operation in Ukraine “until it stops”. The Pope also sought to understand “the roots of such behavior, the reasons that drove him (Putin – socialbites.ca”) to such a “brutal” special operation. He claimed that “NATO barking at Russia’s door” aroused “anger” and encouraged the Kremlin chief to “react and ignite the conflict”.
“I cannot answer, I am far from answering the question of whether it is right to supply the Ukrainians. It is clear that weapons were tested in those lands. The Russians now know that tanks are of little use and they are thinking of other things. That’s what wars are for: testing the weapons we make. This was the situation during the Spanish Civil War before the Second World War. “The arms trade is a scandal that few speak out against,” said Pope Francis.
He reminded me that two or three years ago a ship arrived in Genoa with weapons that had to be reloaded on a large cargo ship to deliver them to Yemen.
“The doormen didn’t want to do that. They said let’s think about Yemeni children. It’s a small thing, but a nice gesture. There should be many such things (gestures – socialbites.ca),” the bow tie is sure.
Meeting with Patriarch Kirill
When asked whether the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, was the person who could “convince the Kremlin leader to open the door”, Pope Francis said the meeting could be misinterpreted under the current circumstances.
“I spoke with Kirill over Zoom for 40 minutes. The first twenty (minutes – “socialbites.ca”) read to me all the justifications for the war with a piece of paper in hand. I listened to him and said to him: I don’t understand anything from that. Brother, we are not state clergy, we cannot use the language of politics, but (we should – socialbites.ca) the language of Jesus. We are shepherds of the same holy people of God. That is why we must seek ways of peace, put an end to gunfire,” he said.
He stated that he had a meeting with Patriarch Kirill in Jerusalem on 14 June.
“This will be our second face-to-face meeting, it has nothing to do with the war. But he now admits: let’s stop, it may be a vague signal, ”explained the head of the Catholic Church.
Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Head of the Synodal Department of Foreign Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, commented on the cancellation of the meeting of the popes at the end of April. It was reached in the fall of 2021.
“The events of the last two months have forced us to change plans and postpone the meeting. A lot of difficulties would arise in its preparation at this time. This also applies to security, logistics and the coverage of the meeting in the public sphere. Let’s wait for a more convenient time for this event. The communication between the Pope and the Patriarch via remote communication has been very warm and sincere. It helped discuss the most pressing issues and we will leave the rest to the future,” he said.
May 9
Pope Francis also hopes that the military special operation in Ukraine will end on May 9.
“(Prime Minister of Hungary – socialbites.ca) Orban said in his meeting with me that the Russians have a plan that everything will be over on May 9th. “I hope so, so we can understand the pace of the climb these days,” he said.
According to him, “there is not enough will for peace” in society and “war is terrible”, so everyone should “yell about it”.
“Because it’s not just Donbass anymore, it’s Crimea, Odessa, taking the Black Sea port from Ukraine, that’s all. I am a pessimist, but we must do everything possible to stop the war,” the head of the Catholic Church concluded.
Source: Gazeta
