To analyse

The Vatican is looking for a way out in the war in Ukraine

Pope Francis at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on March 7, 2022. AP - Andrew Medichini

Text by: Éric Senanque

4 mins

Between calls for peace, mobilization on the ground with refugees, and the desire to dialogue with all parties, the Vatican is walking on a delicate ridge line. 

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From our correspondent in the Vatican,

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine,

Pope Francis

and the Holy See have not remained inactive.

The sovereign pontiff spoke on several occasions to condemn the war, such as on March 6, after the Angelus in Saint Peter

's Square, where Francis denounced "

rivers of blood and tears

"

, specifying that the current events in Ukraine were indeed “

a war

” and not “

a military operation

”, taking the Kremlin narrative backwards. 

On February 25, the day after the Russian aggression, the pope went to the Russian embassy near the Holy See, located a stone's throw from the Vatican.

A gesture considered important, especially since François had canceled all his activities that day due to knee pain.

He then spoke on the phone with the Ukrainian president.

The Ukrainian people feel the spiritual support of His Holiness

,” Volodymyr Zelensky then tweeted. 

During a call on March 8 with

Sergei Lavrov

, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin for his part recalled the will of the Holy See “

to do everything to put itself at the service of peace

”. 

Well-established communication 

If the diplomatic role of the Holy See seems limited in the face of Russian military power, the "soft-power" of the Vatican is noticeable through the media treatment of this war.

Witness the front pages of

L'Osservatore Romano

, the daily newspaper of the Holy See, which since the beginning of the conflict show the extent of Russian aggression.

Like on March 9, when he published photos of the bombarded Mariupol and this ironic title: “Military Operation”.

Vatican Radio is negotiating to expand its short-wave broadcasting to Ukraine and Russia, while many Western media are muzzled by Moscow. 

On a humanitarian level, the Vatican also got involved very quickly.

Francis sent two cardinals into the field.

The first, the Polish Konrad Krajewski, is the "apostolic chaplain" of the pope, responsible for organizing the gifts of the sovereign pontiff to the most vulnerable.

In Lviv, he explained that the pope had financed fuel for humanitarian aid trucks to the most affected Ukrainian regions.

Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny, who handles the migrant file at the Vatican, went to the border between Hungary and Ukraine to meet refugees there. 

Maintaining dialogue with Moscow, a delicate line 

In the name of maintaining dialogue with Moscow, the Vatican traditionally cultivates caution.

Thus, he does not openly condemn Russia

when it annexed Crimea in 2014

.

And when on February 12, 2016,

Pope Francis and the Orthodox Patriarch Cyril meet in Havana

for a historic face-to-face, the first since the schism of 1054 between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, their joint statement remains very vague on the 'Ukraine.

They are content to deplore “

a confrontation which has already claimed many lives

”.

For the Vatican, Christian unity remains a priority. 

"

From this point of view, Kiev does not seem worth a mass which would risk offending the sensibilities of the Russian Orthodox Church

", notes the journalist Constance Colonna-Cesari in her book

In the secrets of Vatican diplomacy

(Seuil, 2016) .

But the declarations of Patriarch Cyril who justified the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a struggle “

of good against evil

” are enough to embarrass the Vatican.

And this while the Greek Catholics of Ukraine, attached to Rome, for their part continue to denounce the aggression. 

For the time being, the Holy See continues to recall that peace “

is still possible

”.

The new Ukrainian ambassador to the Holy See, Andrii Yurash, who took up his post in Rome on March 4, believes that the Vatican could also become "

a place of international negotiations between Ukraine and Russia

" for reach a ceasefire, waiting for the same wish to be expressed from Moscow.

We would see how much the Holy See has an extremely important role

,” he notes. 

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