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US President Joe Biden and Vatican Special Envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi discussed the Holy See’s efforts to provide humanitarian aid to address the suffering caused by Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, as well as the Vatican’s commitment to return of forcibly deported Ukrainian children. The White House reported it in a note at the end of the conversation between the two
Biden to Cardinal Zuppi: I hope the Pope continues his ministry
In their conversation today at the White House, Joe Biden expressed to Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, Vatican envoy for peace in Ukraine, his hope that Pope Francis “continue in his ministry and global leadership”
Nuncio: Zuppi in the USA to listen and be heard
«The aim is to dialogue, listen and be listened to. President Joe Biden has always had a lot of attention for the Holy Father”, the apostolic nuncio in Washington Christophe Pierre told Rai, commenting on the initiative of Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi shortly before his visit to the US Congress in his peace mission for the Ukraine. Pierre then underlined the importance of the humanitarian dimension of the mission.
The trip to Washington
After Kiev and Moscow, the Pope’s envoy therefore went to Washington, where he was received at the White House. A gesture that is far from obvious, which certainly underlines the attention of the democratic and Catholic president for everything that comes from the Vatican, and perhaps also as a gesture of respect towards progressive American Catholics (not the majority of bishops, hostile both to him than to Bergoglio). Certainly the reception is extraordinary: few see the president in the Oval Office, and those who do take a long time to get the green light.
Ukraine, Zuppi: The Pope does not give up and does everything for peace
The previous missions
In Kiev Zuppi was received coldly by President Volodymyr Zelensky (“a ceasefire does not help peace”) after he had rejected Francis’ interventionism during his visit to Rome, while in Moscow the cardinal saw one of the advisers to Vladimir Putin and the commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Llola-Belova, hit by an international arrest warrant for illegal deportation of minors