{"id":17520,"date":"2023-05-08T11:12:50","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T15:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=17520"},"modified":"2023-05-08T11:12:50","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T15:12:50","slug":"pope-says-the-vatican-is-engaged-in-a-secret-ukraine-peace-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/05\/pope-says-the-vatican-is-engaged-in-a-secret-ukraine-peace-mission","title":{"rendered":"Pope Says The Vatican is Engaged in a Secret Ukraine Peace Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pope Francis recently shared that The Vatican is involved in a peace mission to try and end the war between Ukraine and Russia. He told reporters during a trip home after a three-day visit to Hungary that he was willing to do anything that must be done.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis told reporters, \u201cI am willing to do everything that has to be done. There is a mission in course now, but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it.\u201d Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, confirmed the existence of the peace mission but expressed surprise that officials in Russia and Ukraine claimed ignorance of the Vatican initiative when asked about Francis\u2019 comments.<\/p>\n

Parolin said that both capitals had been informed, Vatican News reported. He was quoted as saying, \u201cBased on my knowledge, they know, but you know how it is, in bureaucracies, it could be that communications that are supposed to arrive don\u2019t arrive. These are just my interpretations, but I know that both parties were informed.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his three days in Budapest, Francis held private meetings with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n, who has maintained relations with Moscow and the former foreign envoy of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has strongly supported the war. During the news conference, Francis was asked whether Orb\u00e1n or Metropolitan Hilarion of the Russian Orthodox Church could help facilitate Vatican mediation to try to end the war. Francis replied, \u201cYou can imagine that in this meeting, we didn\u2019t only talk about Little Red Riding Hood, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Vatican has a tradition of diplomatic neutrality and working behind the scenes to end conflicts. Francis has tried not to antagonize Moscow in his repeated expressions of solidarity with the Ukrainian people. Before Francis went to Hungary, Ukraine\u2019s prime minister called on the pontiff and asked his help, particularly to help facilitate the return of Ukrainian children to Russia.<\/p>\n