VATICAN CITY. The Vatican secretary of state had a telephone conversation with the Russian foreign minister on the conflict in Eastern Europe. Cardinal Pietro Parolin asked Serghei Lavrov that “the fighting stop”, and that the negotiations replace the violence of weapons. He reported the “deep concern of the Pope for the war in progress” and reiterated the availability of the Holy See for any type of mediation deemed useful for peace. In the meantime, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, sent by Jorge Mario Bergoglio on a humanitarian mission to Ukraine, “arrives today in Lviv”, announced Monsignor Sviatoslav Shevchuk.
During the dialogue, the cardinal “reaffirmed what the Pope said last Sunday at the Angelus”, explains the director of the Holy See Press Office Matteo Bruni. The Pontiff “had remarked – recalls the website of the Holy See Vatican News – that what is underway in Ukraine is not a military operation, but a war”. Bruni reports that in particular Parolin “reiterated the appeal for the armed attacks to cease, to ensure humanitarian corridors for civilians and rescuers, to replace the violence of arms with negotiations”.
The news of the phone call was reported by the Interfax agency citing the Moscow Foreign Ministry: “The parties expressed their hope that the next round of talks between Moscow and Kiev will take place soon and that an agreement on key issues will be reached”, with the aim of ending hostilities, Russian sources say. Lavrov’s entourage announced that the minister had informed the Secretary of State of Oltretevere «about the Russian motivations regarding the causes and objectives of the special military operation conducted in Ukraine. Special emphasis – concludes the statement from the Foreign Ministry – was placed on humanitarian issues related to the conflict, including measures to protect civilians, the organization and implementation of humanitarian corridors, assistance to refugees ”.
Meanwhile, in a video message, the head of the Greek-Catholic Church Shevchuk says that “today Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, Pope Francis’ special envoy, arrives in Ukraine, in Lviv, and in this way the Apostolic See begins a special humanitarian mission in Ukraine. Today we want to welcome our guest with dignity and help him to look, to see the wounds of Ukraine, just as the Holy Father asks to help him touch the wounds of Christ on the body of the Ukrainian people wounded by the war. We want to take him where the situation is more difficult today ». Ukraine «once again finds itself in a situation in which millions of people have set in motion, when our women and our children are forced to leave their homes. The Church is, and will be with her people – underlines – It will be where it is more difficult. It will be in the places where our presence is most requested, to embrace these people, to help them, to alleviate their suffering due to this war ».
The Pope’s Almoner in Lviv will meet Monsignor Mieczysław Mokrzycki, archbishop of the Ukrainian city, and Shevchuk who is expected to join him from Kiev. From there he should begin his mission of solidarity among the local population. Krajewski enters Ukraine from the Polish border. In Poland, he visited refugees welcomed in the town of Korczowa, in a supermarket that was transformed into a shelter. He was also at the temporary reception center in Lublin, and among border volunteers in Przemysl. Krajewski says – as reported by the Vatican media – “The Pope sends me to show love for this persecuted people who are fleeing, he wants to embrace them and tell them that he loves them. When I say that I come from the Vatican on behalf of the Holy Father, I often already see tears ».