THE VATICAN is part of a peace mission to try to end the war in Ukraine, unleashed on February 24, 2022 by the invasion order given by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pope Francis announced, but admitted that ” It’s not public yet.”
“There is a mission underway at the moment, but it is not public for now. We will see how… When it is public, I will talk about it,” said the Pontiff, who has traveled to Hungary to meet with the Prime Minister Hungarian, Viktor Orbán, and Metropolitan Hilarion, former ‘Foreign Minister’ of the Moscow Patriarchate.
“You can imagine that in this meeting we don’t just talk about Little Red Hood, right?” he said, before emphasizing that he is willing “to do whatever needs to be done.” “Everyone is interested in the path to peace”, he stressed, as reported by the Vatican News portal.
Thus, he has shown his conviction that “peace is always achieved by opening channels.” “Peace cannot be achieved with a closure. I invite everyone to open relationships, channels of friendship,” said the Pope, who has recognized that “it is not easy.” “The same things that I have said in general I have transferred to Orbán and everywhere,” he explained.
On the other hand, it has shown its willingness to help in the efforts for the return to Ukraine of the children transferred by Russia to its territory in the framework of the invasion. “The Holy See is willing to do it because it is fair, it is a fair thing and we must help, so that this is not a ‘casus belli’, but a human case”, has argued.
“It is a problem of humanity rather than a problem of war spoils or war transfers. All human gestures help, but cruel gestures do not help. We must do everything humanly possible,” Pope Francis said.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant on March 17 for Putin and the Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights of the Russian Federation, Maria Alekseievna Lvova-Belova on the presumption of war crimes for forced deportation. of Ukrainian children from Ukrainian war-captured areas to Russian territory.
In dialogue with journalists on the return flight from Budapest to Rome, the Holy Father insistently asked whether the Ukrainian children should be returned from Russia and whether this request had been made by the prime minister of the Zelensky government.
“I think so because the Holy See has acted as an intermediary in some prisoner exchange situations, and through the embassy it went well, I think this can also go well. It is important, the Holy See is willing to do it because it is fair, it is a fair thing and we must help, so that this is not a the events of warbut a human case.” said the pontiff.
She added that “I am also thinking, I want to say, of the women who come to our countries: Italy, Spain, Poland, Hungary, so many women who come with children and husbands, or are wives… or are fighting in the war. It is true that right now they are being helped, but we must not lose enthusiasm for doing so, because if enthusiasm wanes, these women are left without protection, with the danger of falling into the hands of the vultures that are always looking for these situations. Let us be careful not to lose this tension of help that we have for the refugees, this concerns everyone.”/Europa Press and Vatican News