The “Francis variable” is a pendulum observed by the chancelleries of the West (many) and of the Russian mini-bloc as a card for a hypothetical cease-fire in Ukraine whose weight up to now has not been possible to define. But certainly that of Vatican diplomacy is a channel that could be launched at any moment because in fact it is the only one considered expendable by both parties. Sometimes contested by Kiev, others by Moscow, as happened after the publication of the pope’s interview with America Magazine, the prestigious US Jesuit magazine. «Certainly, the one who invades is the Russian state – says Bergoglio – Why don’t I mention Putin? Because it is not necessary; he is already known. However, sometimes people get attached to one detail. Everyone knows my position, with Putin or without Putin, without naming him.” Moscow’s reaction is angry. The well-known spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, declares (proposing the words with which she defines Chechens and Buryats as «the cruelest part of the Russian troops in Ukraine»): «This is no longer Russophobia, but a perversion, I don’t even know to what degree. In the nineties and early 2000s, we were told exactly the opposite, that the Russians, the Slavs torture the peoples of the Caucasus, and now we are told that it is the peoples of the Caucasus who torture the Russians. They must be perverts of the truth.”
The missed meetings with Kirill and the words (disputed by Kiev) about the daughter of Dugin
These are the facts of the last hour, which however must be read in a general context. At the beginning of the invasion the Pope had been cautious, he had visited the Russian ambassador to the Holy See three days later, he could hardly pronounce the word invasion. He wanted to keep a channel of dialogue open right away, which could be a new meeting with the Orthodox patriarch Kirill, who has always been a fan of the Kremlin and war politics as well as an aberrant extremist on issues relating to homosexuality and the origins of Covid as a a sort of judgment from God. The Pope was aiming for a meeting in late spring in Jerusalem, but then everything fell through due to Bergoglio’s criticism of the Patriarch, with whom he had spoken on the phone some time before. Then in August a car blows up in Moscow and Darya Dugina, daughter of Putin’s ideologue, dies. «I think of the girl who was blown up by a bomb that was under a seat of a car in Moscow. The innocent pay for war. Let us think about this reality and tell ourselves that war is madness,” said the Pontiff. Kiev sent a note of protest.
Confidential (and effective) work on the release of hostages
And so on over time, mostly sentences of aggression with the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, constantly busy sending messages of dialogue. And not only. At the end of the summer, Francis’ office launched an initiative – which was successful – for the release of 300 Ukrainian hostages and even now – he tells “America” - he confirms that mediation between Ukraine and Russia for the release of prisoners: «Work generally with the receipt of lists of prisoners, both civilian prisoners and military prisoners, and I have them sent to the Russian government, and the response has always been very positive. In short, he doesn’t wait for things to happen, he talks to President Zelensky on the phone. But the trip to Ukraine, which was supposed to take place in September, has disappeared from the radar: if it goes, it will go to both Moscow and Kiev: «I have also thought about travelling, but I have made the decision: if I travel, I will go to Moscow and Kiev, in both, not just in one place. And I never looked like I was covering up the assault. I have received here in this room, three or four times, a delegation from the Ukrainian Government. And we work together.”
The case of the kidnapping of two priests in southeast Ukraine by the Russians
So here we are back to the starting point, with a diplomacy that can open a road, but certainly cannot travel it. The Pope has no divisions, and in this case they are needed: he can show the glimmer of peace but he cannot maintain it or guarantee trade goods. Finally, to calm spirits – writes the Anda from Moscow – another piece of news released by the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need does not help, according to which two priests who served in the city of Berdyansk, in south-eastern Ukraine , were arrested by the Russians. According to Msgr. Stepan Meniok, bishop of the Exarchate of Donetsk, the arrested are Ivan Levitskyi and Bohdan Heleta, whom the Moscow troops accuse of having prepared a terrorist act.