He never quotes Vladimir Putinbut condemns “the icy wind of war” caused by “some powerful” who, “sadly trapped in the anachronistic claims of nationalist interests, provokes and foments conflicts”. Pope francesco in Valletta he meets the authorities in the first leg of his two-day trip to Malta (his 36th, postponed two years ago for Covid). After not ruling out a trip to Kiev – “he is on the table”, he tells reporters on the outbound flight – he once again delivers a speech strongly condemning the war in Ukraine. And even if he does not speak directly of the contenders on the pitch, the condemnation is clear for those who have caused “destruction and hatred on the lives of many and on everyone’s day”. But, he warns him, the conflict “has been fueled over the years”. “Yes – he says – the war has been preparing for some time with large investments and arms trading”. While “we need compassion and care – he continues -, not ideological visions and populisms that feed on words of hatred and do not care about the concrete life of the people, of ordinary people”.
In all these weeks, Francis has never mentioned the protagonists of the conflict in his interventions. He has always maintained a high profile, strongly condemning the very fact of war, the weakening “of the enthusiasm for peace that arose after the Second World War”, the madness of “the few who go on their own, in search of spaces and areas of influence “. His harshest words, once again, are against “a wicked logic of power that leads to war”.
The Pope will meet Patriarch Kirill. Vatican mediation appears
by Paolo Rodari
Valletta’s high defense walls with its watchtowers, churches and historic buildings welcomed the Pope under a warm spring wind. For the first time Francesco gets off the plane with an open lift. Due to knee problems, he was unable to use the ladder. The Euro wind blows from the east, as Homer called it in the Odyssey, but this time instead of bringing light it brings with it “the darkness of war”. “We thought – the Pope recalls – that invasions of other countries, brutal fighting in the streets and atomic threats were dark memories of a distant past”, but this is not the case. For this we need to be inspired by Irene, a Mediterranean statue dating back to centuries before Christ: “Remember that peace generates well-being and war only poverty”. “I invoke from God unity and peace for the whole world“, writes the Pope in the Book of Honor in the palace of the Grand Master.
In his pontificate, Francis has repeatedly stigmatized the fact that in the world there is now “a broken third world war”. In Valletta, however, he speaks for the first time of the “risk of an enlarged cold war”. He re-emerges overwhelmingly “in the seductions of autocracy, in the new imperialisms, in widespread aggression, in the inability to build bridges and to start from the poorest” that “infantilism” that destroys and threatens.
But Bergoglio’s concerns aren’t just for Ukraine. But also for the Middle East, with the contexts “torn apart by problems and violence” in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Migration is born from conflicts, “not a circumstance of the moment”, but a phenomenon “that marks our age”. Once again the Pope asks for acceptance because “it is a fact that cannot be rejected with anachronistic closures, because there will be no prosperity and integration in isolation”. Too often “fear and the narration of invasion” prevails in relation to those who cross the Mediterranean, while we should “help ourselves not to see the migrant as a threat and not to succumb to the temptation to build drawbridges and erect walls”. “The other is not a virus to defend against, but a person to be welcomed”.
Today the Pope’s journey continues on the island of Gozo where Francis will preside over a prayer meeting. Tomorrow the visit to the Grotto of Saint Paul in Rabat, Sunday Mass, a meeting with migrants and then the return to Rome.