The statements of Pope Francesco - who saw in an interview a few days ago with an Italian newspaper that one of the causes of the conflict in Ukraine was Moscow's "anger", which was "facilitated by (...) NATO's provocation at Russia's door" - provoked wide reactions.

During the interview, the Pope indicated that he was ready to travel to Moscow first, before Kyiv, to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and try to stop the fighting in Ukraine.

However, the Pope reported that he had warned Kirill, the Moscow Patriarch, that he should not be "a boy for Putin's altar," and told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that he had advised Kirill in a conversation on March 16 via Zoom, saying: We are not clergy in the state, we cannot use the language of politics but the language of Jesus."

Francesco faces - with the protracted Russian war on Ukraine - one of the greatest challenges of his nearly 10-year papacy. Especially after the Vatican canceled a scheduled meeting with Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and one of Putin's main backers.

Russian Vatican Relations

To understand the current moment and the diplomacy of the Vatican, one can use the book of journalist Victor Gaitan, "God's Diplomats.. Pope Francesco, Vatican Diplomacy and American Armageddon," which calls on its readers to return to the era of the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI (resigned in 2013).

Benedict, elected in 2005, and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kerry, elected in 2009 are two great Christian theologians who saw an urgent need to combat the rising tide of moral relativism in the West, and opposed liberal "progressive ideas".

Shortly thereafter - in 2010 - the Vatican and Russia exchanged ambassadors with full diplomatic recognition for the first time in nearly a century, and this relationship helped pave the way for a final personal meeting in Cuba between Pope Francesco and Kirill in 2016, the first-ever meeting between The Roman Catholic Pope and the Russian Orthodox Patriarch.

In the book, Gaitan reveals the activities of the diplomatic efforts of the Holy See (Vatican), and explains how Vatican diplomats often find themselves in conflict with the foreign policy of the United States, as the Vatican sees that the arrogance of the United States is counterproductive in the Middle East, Russia and China, according to The author of the book.

By analyzing many personal anecdotes and interviews, the author recounts stages of the diplomacy of the Vatican - the tiny state that does not have an army - on the world stage, including interference in peace negotiations in Kenya, Colombia and South Sudan, and addressing issues such as the morality of using drones as weapons, and issues of Indigenous peoples who lost their lands as a result of mining industries, and pharmaceutical companies monopolizing intellectual property at the expense of poor people's access to medicines.

The author considers that modern Vatican positions such as opposing the Iraq war and the overthrow of Gaddafi are not new, as there is a history of “a conflict with global aspects between the United States and the Holy See that dates back to the beginning of the modern era.” Pope Leon the 13th was “horrified” by the United States’ seizure of the Philippines in In 1899, Pope Benedict XV opposed the Treaty of Versailles that followed World War I, because it deepened resentment among the losing parties, especially Germany, and after Japan's attack on the American port of Pearl Harbor in World War II, Pope Pius XII quickly established diplomatic relations with Japan, which angered Former US President Roosevelt.

On the other hand, there are factors that make the rapprochement between the Vatican and the Orthodox Church a common interest for both parties, especially as they are engaged in a "cultural war" between the traditional values ​​adopted by the churches and the ideas of progressive currents that raise issues, such as opposing same-sex marriage.

catholic conversions

In his article in the American Catholic magazine Commonweal Magazine, Massimo Fagioli, Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University, said that the current war challenges those assumptions that prevailed after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, as it brought back past history to the reality of Europe.

The writer, author of “Joe Biden and Catholicism in the United States,” continued, “We thought that we had left the era of major conflicts behind us, and the influence of the old political and religious systems had diminished, now we have to wonder whether this hope was misplaced, perhaps the grip of the old world order was stronger Than we knew, or at least stronger than the dream of building a new church in the world.”

In recent years, Fagioli says, spaces for dialogue have been absent, whether in politics or in the corridors of the church, as decisions are taken in places that are difficult to reach or difficult to define.

Nevertheless - the writer believes - that the Vatican showed some wisdom during this crisis, as Francesco is trying to save the Catholic Church from the fatal danger that fell into it before him, which is the same civilizational trap into which the Russian Orthodox Church fell in the nineties, and Patriarch Kirill and some Catholic cardinals fell into it. When they sided with power because of their fear of progressive ideas opposed to the church.

Fagioli considers that the Russian war on Ukraine has transcended the era of Benedict XVI's lamentation of the outdated "Christian roots of Europe".

The writer considers that the crisis of confidence of political leaders in the Vatican's handling of the Russian war in Ukraine is the result of the rise of nationalism in Europe, but it is also re-kindling Eastern Catholic grievances that have been dormant for a long time, noting that the Catholic Church, the Vatican and the Papacy are still trying to find a role for them in In the midst of the transformations that accompanied the beginning of the current century.