pope to visit russia 2022

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Vatican says pope has not accepted invitation to go to russia.

• March 21, 2024
• News & Commentary

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis has not accepted an invitation to travel to Moscow in June to meet with Vladimir Putin, the director of the Holy See press office said.

A report on the website of Intelligence Online, a French journal, “does not correspond to the truth,” Matteo Bruni told reporters March 20.

A story on the website March 19 had said Ivan Soltanovsky, the Russian ambassador to the Holy See, invited the pope to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow in June, “an invitation that the pope accepted,” Intelligence Online had reported.

The journal said the pope, who repeatedly has been invited to visit Ukraine, would travel to Kyiv immediately after visiting Moscow.

After Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Pope Francis said he would be willing to accept the invitation of the Ukrainian government to visit, but only if he could visit Moscow as well.

Earlier the Russian news agency RIA Novosti had reported that Pope Francis had congratulated Putin on his victory in the presidential election March 17, an election Western observers described as rigged. Bruni had told Catholic News Service March 18 that the report was not true.

The Vatican has repeatedly offered to act as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia, and last year Pope Francis sent his peace envoy for Ukraine, Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, to Kyiv, Moscow, Washington and Beijing to meet with foreign leaders and advance peace talks on Ukraine.

In early March, however, the pope caused consternation when segments of an interview were released in which he said Russia and Ukraine need to have the “courage of the white flag” to halt the fighting and negotiate.

The phrase “white flag” usually refers to surrendering, and Ukrainian leaders were outraged.

Pope Francis was not asking Ukraine to consider surrendering to Russia when he called for negotiations to end the war, but he was calling for both Russia and Ukraine to cease hostilities and engage in peace talks, said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.

At the end of his weekly general audience March 20, praying for peace in Ukraine and in the Holy Land, Pope Francis said, “War is always a defeat.”

“We must make every effort to discuss, to negotiate to end war,” he said. “Let’s pray for this.”

By Cindy Wooden | Catholic News Service

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Zelensky Meets Pope and Meloni in Italy to Bolster Ukraine’s Support

The Ukrainian president’s talks with the pope and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni came at a potentially pivotal moment in the war with Russia, as Kyiv’s forces make advances near the key city of Bakhmut.

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By Jason Horowitz

Reporting from Rome

Weeks after Pope Francis bewildered the Ukrainian government with talk of a secret peace mission , President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine met Francis in the Vatican on Saturday, part of a whirlwind visit to Rome that included talks with Italy’s president and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, both of whom offered their full support.

Mr. Zelensky’s discussions in Rome of war and peace come at a potentially pivotal moment in the fight against Russia, as Ukrainian forces make advances near the key eastern city of Bakhmut ahead of a widely anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive, and as Germany announced its largest military aid package for Ukraine since the war began, saying it would provide 2.7 billion euros worth of weapons.

Italy added to that momentum, with Ms. Meloni, who greeted Mr. Zelensky warmly before a 70-minute meeting, affirming her staunch support of Ukraine’s war effort.

“We bet on the victory of Ukraine,” said Ms. Meloni, appearing next to Mr. Zelensky, whom she called her “friend” in a news conference at the Chigi Palace, the seat of Italian government, after the meeting. “Our support will be at 360 degrees for all the time necessary, and beyond.”

She said Mr. Zelensky’s decision to begin his most recent sweep through Europe in Rome — he is expected to visit Germany on Sunday — showed that Italy was a “protagonist” in the support of Ukraine, a “victim of a brutal and unjust aggression on the part of the Russian Republic.” She said Italy would continue to supply Ukraine with aid, “also military.”

Mr. Zelensky, who on Twitter had called the visit important for his country’s “approaching victory,” thanked Italy repeatedly for its assistance.

But the centerpiece, and most delicate stop, of Mr. Zelensky’s trip to Rome came as his motorcade rumbled up St. Peter’s Square and he walked through a Vatican entrance flanked by Swiss Guards and, wearing his trademark sweatshirt, shook Francis’ hand before sitting across a desk for a 40-minute meeting.

The pope has sought to position himself as a potential peacemaker in a way that critics, including Ukrainian officials, argue is counterproductive to the achievement not only of Ukrainian victory, but also of a real and just peace.

To preserve the Vatican’s traditional neutrality, Francis, while consistently expressing sympathy for the suffering of Ukrainians, has made often confusing and contradictory remarks about whether he blames President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for the invasion of Ukraine. After recently meeting with Russian sympathizers in Hungary, the pope has sought to thrust himself into the discussion about the war’s endgame, cryptically speaking about “a mission going on now, but it is not public yet” to bring peace, adding “when it is public I will talk about it.”

Both Russia and Ukraine, overwhelmingly Orthodox, and not Roman Catholic, countries, said they had no idea what the pope was talking about. But the Vatican insisted that a peace plan was in the works. It was not clear if Mr. Zelensky’s visit was part of that plan, or resulted from the Ukrainian leader’s efforts to explain in person why such talk could be detrimental.

“I asked to condemn Russian crimes in Ukraine,” Mr. Zelensky said in a statement after the meeting with Francis, who gave him a bronze olive branch. “Because there can be no equality between the victim and the aggressor. I also talked about our Peace Formula as the only effective algorithm for achieving a just peace. I proposed joining its implementation.”

Asked afterwards on Italian television whether Francis, who had sought to stake out an equidistant position between Ukraine and Russia, could be a peacemaker between him and Mr. Putin, Mr. Zelensky said “with all respect for His Holiness,” Ukraine did not need mediators because “you can’t do mediation with Putin.” He said victory on the battlefield was essential, and coming, and saw no point in speaking with Mr. Putin, who was clearly acting in bad faith. “What are we going to talk about?”

The Vatican said only that the two men discussed the war and Francis assured Mr. Zelensky of his “constant prayer” for Ukraine and its most vulnerable, and that both men agreed on the need for continued humanitarian aid.

On Saturday, even before Mr. Zelensky’s arrival, Francis who abhors the arms trade and who has shown deep anxiety about the suffering caused by the 15-month conflict, spoke about how the war had “brought unspeakable suffering and death.” He added in a tweet a prayer for “paths of encounter and dialogue that lead toward peace, and grant us the courage to trod them without hesitation.”

Mr. Zelensky and Francis met in Rome for an official visit in 2020 before the war. But since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the pope has declined various invitations from the Ukrainian government to meet Mr. Zelensky in Kyiv.

Francis has stated that, in his hopes of eventually playing the role of a negotiator, he wanted any visit to Ukraine to be in conjunction with a visit to Moscow, but Mr. Putin has repeatedly made it clear that he wanted no such visit.

Francis’ openness to dialogue has also, especially in the beginning of the war, drawn criticism for assuming a neutrality that critics considered morally questionable in the face of clear Russian aggression.

There was no such ambiguity from the Italian government.

Analysts expected Mr. Zelensky to ask for more Italian military support, especially for antiaircraft weapons.

“Today we discussed our cooperation, particularly security and military cooperation,” Mr. Zelensky said at a news conference . “There are very important decisions regarding the protection of our sky.”

Ms. Meloni has remained solid in her defense of Kyiv and she warned about a widespread “propaganda” effort by Russia to distract from the fact that it had invaded Ukraine. She said that Ukraine’s independence was the only acceptable outcome, and that peace could not be attained “with surrender” by Kyiv.

She called for the withdrawal of Russian forces and the end of its aggression, which she described as “dangerous for all of Europe and all the nations of the world.”

But Ms. Meloni, who appeared next to Pope Francis on Friday at an event about bolstering the Italian fertility rate, also had to manage her neighbor in the Vatican across the Tiber River, saying that she supported the efforts of the pope, adding, “we are very happy for this initiative.”

Mr. Zelensky thanked Ms. Meloni for Italy’s role in defending Ukraine and accepting so many of its refugees.

But as Mr. Zelensky seeks to shore up concrete support of bullets, missiles and other arms for his country’s defense, he has also sought to win over the pope. Despite the pontiff having no divisions, as Stalin once famously noted, he still exercises a moral authority that Mr. Zelensky wants more clearly on his side.

Supporters of Ukraine worried that the pope’s eagerness to play a constructive role was making him a pawn of Mr. Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church, which has sought to give religious legitimacy to the invasion.

Adding to Ukrainian concerns were the pope’s kind words for Aleksandr Avdeyev, for years the Russian ambassador to the Holy See, whom he has praised in the past. On the flight back from Budapest he called Mr. Avdeyev “a great man, a man comme il faut, a serious, cultured and balanced person.”

On Saturday, the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero reported that Francis had met this past week with Mr. Avdeyev and may have given him a letter to take back to Mr. Putin. That close relationship vexed Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See, Andrii Yurash , who recently met with top Vatican officials to express Kyiv’s concerns that the Russian Orthodox Church was trying to gain “legitimacy” through its relationship with the Vatican for “obvious aims of Russian propaganda.”

The Vatican has actively tried to engage with both sides, working on prisoner releases and promising the Ukrainians that it would do what it could to help return children taken by Russia.

In May 2022, Francis wondered in an interview with the Corriere della Sera, an Italian newspaper, whether “NATO barking at Russia’s doors” may have “facilitated” anger from the Kremlin that led to the invasion.

On Saturday, Ms. Meloni, at least, made it clear that the Italian government saw the blame resting fully on Russia, and that the only acceptable peace was one that met Ukraine’s conditions.

“We are not so hypocritical as to call peace,” she said, anything that “resembles an invasion.”

Jason Horowitz is the Rome bureau chief, covering Italy, the Vatican, Greece and other parts of Southern Europe. He previously covered the 2016 presidential campaign, the Obama administration and Congress, with an emphasis on political profiles and features. More about Jason Horowitz

Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine

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Pope Francis offers to meet Putin to try to end Ukraine war

Pope Francis says he made a request to meet Russian president three weeks after Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

Pope Francis has said he offered to travel to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in an effort to stop the war in Ukraine but has yet to hear back.

The pontifex made the request for a meeting via the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, 20 days after Putin ordered troops to enter Ukraine on February 24 , the pope told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Tuesday.

Popes for decades have sought to visit Moscow as part of the longstanding effort to heal relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, which split with Rome more than 1,000 years ago. But an invitation has never been forthcoming.

“Of course, it would be necessary for the leader of the Kremlin to make available some window of opportunity,” the pope was quoted as saying.

“But we still have not had a response and we are still pushing, even if I fear that Putin cannot and does not want to have this meeting at this moment,” he added.

Following suggestions over a visit to the Ukrainian capital, the pope was clear: “I am not going to Kyiv now … I have to go to Moscow first, I have to meet Putin.”

. @Pontifex_it : «I am ready to meet Putin in Moscow» | exclusive interview with @lucfontana , editor in chief @corriere https://t.co/Yxvs44i7pu — Corriere della Sera (@Corriere) May 3, 2022

During the interview, Francis also reported a conversation he had in March with the Russian Orthodox Church’s Patriarch Kirill – a staunch supporter of the invasion.

“With paper in hand, he read all of the justifications for the war,” the pope told Corriere. “I listened and told him: ‘I don’t understand any of this. Brother, we are not clerics of the state, we cannot use language of politics, but that of Jesus … For this we need to find the paths of peace, to stop the firing of arms.’”

“He can’t turn into Putin’s altar boy,” Francis added. The two religious leaders were supposed to meet in Jerusalem, but the Vatican called off the meeting to avoid “confusion”.

The pope has repeatedly called for an end to the hostilities in the war-torn country but has not directly criticised Putin.

In early April, the pope said some “potentate, sadly caught up in anachronistic claims of nationalist interests, is provoking and fomenting conflicts”.

Francis has frequently denounced the weapons industry and the announced increases in defence spending by the West in recent weeks.

But he has also defended the right of Ukrainians to protect their territory from the Russian invasion, in line with Catholic social doctrine. He told Corriere he felt he was too removed to judge the morality of resupplying the Ukrainian armed forces from the West.

But he also said he was trying to understand why Russia had reacted as it had. Maybe “this barking of NATO at Russia’s door” had prompted it, he was quoted as saying, “An anger that I don’t know if you can say was provoked, but may be facilitated.”

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Which countries will Pope Francis visit in 2022?

By Courtney Mares

Vatican City, Jan 5, 2022 / 13:00 pm

As the new year begins amid a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in many parts of the world, Pope Francis has no official international trips confirmed for 2022. But he has expressed an interest in visiting several countries in the new year.

At the age of 85, however, it is unlikely that the pope will resume the grueling travel schedule that characterized his pre-pandemic papacy.

Pope Francis has already traveled to more than 50 countries during his almost nine-year pontificate, 11 of which he visited in 2019.

After the outbreak of COVID-19 put his papal travel schedule on hold for more than a year, Francis made history as the first pope to visit Iraq when he resumed international travel in March 2021.

This was followed by apostolic journeys to Greece , Cyprus , Slovakia , and Budapest for the International Eucharistic Congress.

However, there are still some canceled papal trips originally planned for 2020 that could be rescheduled for this year.

The following are places Pope Francis has expressed interest in visiting at some point during his pontificate.

The Vatican announced last fall that Pope Francis is willing to visit Canada as part of the local Catholic bishops’ “pastoral process of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.”

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This potential papal trip to North America will likely occur sometime after the pope receives a delegation of Indigenous leaders from Canada at the Vatican. Their visit was originally scheduled for December 2021 but rescheduled for “the earliest opportunity in 2022” due to concerns about the omicron variant.

Papua New Guinea and East Timor

In an interview with Télam, Argentina’s national news agency, published last October, Pope Francis said that he would like to make trips to Papua New Guinea and East Timor, which had been planned for late 2020 before they were canceled because of the pandemic.

The canceled 2020 trip (never confirmed by the Vatican) was also expected to include a visit to Indonesia. Vatican sources have told ACI Stampa , CNA’s Italian-language news partner, that a papal stop in Singapore could also be added on to the Oceania trip.

Both Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki, the Latin Rite archbishop of Lviv, western Ukraine, have made it known that the pope promised them a visit in 2022.

(Story continues below)

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Nothing has been confirmed, but the trip could take place in May, according to ACI Stampa. Shevchuk said in December that “this has not yet been announced, but we are already living in anticipation and preparation.”

On his return flight from Iraq, Pope Francis reaffirmed his desire to visit Lebanon. A few months later, a Vatican official said that the pope intended to travel to Lebanon once it successfully formed a government.

The formation of a Lebanese government last September after 13 months of political stalemate therefore paved the way for a potential papal visit. Pope Francis met with Prime Minister Najib Mikati, the new leader of the country in crisis, on Nov. 25, but no further details about a papal trip to the country have been released yet.

Pope Francis has repeatedly said that he plans to go back to Hungary after his visit to Budapest in 2021 lasted for only seven hours.

The apostolic journey to Hungary is expected to take place in September, according to ACI Stampa, which has reported that the pope has already told the abbot of Pannonhalma Archabbey that he intends to visit the 1,000-year-old Benedictine abbey.

Hungary could also serve as a potential neutral meeting point for a papal meeting with Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, ACI Stampa reported.

Kazakhstan is another country that could serve as a location for the second meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill. There is already an interreligious meeting scheduled to take place on Sept. 14-15, 2022. The Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, in which Kirill is expected to participate, will be held in the capital of Kazakhstan, Nur-Sultan.

The ambassador of Kazakhstan to the Holy See told EWTN in 2020 that there were “high hopes” that Pope Francis would visit Kazakhstan to take part in the interreligious congress.

The pope could visit Santiago de Compostela as the Spanish pilgrimage site, the end of the famed Camino de Santiago, continues to celebrate a Holy Year throughout 2022. Benedict XVI visited Santiago de Compostela during its last Holy Year in 2010.

Archbishop Julián Barrio Barrio of Santiago de Compostela told journalists in December that he believes that “the pope is interested in coming to Santiago,” but it may not be possible due to the pandemic, according to Rome Reports .

The Vatican had announced in February 2020 that Pope Francis would visit Malta for the feast of Pentecost before the Mediterranean island nation went into lockdown and the trip was canceled. The visit could be rescheduled for sometime after Easter, according to ACI Stampa.

A papal trip to the Balkan country of Montenegro was also planned for 2020 and canceled. The Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazović traveled to the Vatican and reinvited the pope to visit Montenegro at the end of the general audience on Dec. 29.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Pope Francis said in an interview published this fall that he hoped to visit the Congo in 2022. He told Télam in October: “For the moment I have in my mind two trips that I have not started yet, and those are the Congo and Hungary.”

This would be the pope’s first visit to the African continent since 2019. According to ACI Stampa, the potential trip to the DRC could be a stop during a long-awaited papal trip to neighboring South Sudan, which has been postponed repeatedly due to security concerns.

The only officially confirmed papal trip for 2022 so far is that Pope Francis will travel north to the Italian city of Florence on Feb. 27 to speak at a meeting of bishops and mayors of the Mediterranean region.

Given the pope’s age and ongoing pandemic situation, perhaps there will be more shorter trips like this in the new year.

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Pope Francis’ secret Ukraine-Russia peace mission, explained

There are “new, but of course, confidential” developments in the Holy See’s mission to stop the war between Russia and Ukraine. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, broke the news of the “new” developments when he spoke to journalists at the Lateran University in Rome May 10, but he did not elaborate further. However, he added significantly, “I believe the peace mission will move forward.”

Pope Francis first revealed that a mission aimed at stopping the war between Russia and Ukraine “is underway” on April 30. In the following days, spokespersons for both Presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky said their respective sides knew nothing about such a mission. Cardinal Parolin, the pope’s right-hand man, challenged these denials on April 3 and said both sides were informed.

So, what is happening? Is there a peace mission? Why would Kyiv and Moscow deny any knowledge of it? What can we expect to happen next?

Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Pope Francis has looked for ways to stop the war. To achieve that goal and serve as a mediator, he has sought to avoid taking sides. Nevertheless, he has stated clearly that Russia is the aggressor and several times a week speaks of “martyred Ukraine.” He has spoken out against the more than 430 days’ war on no less than 120 occasions, in speeches, homilies, press conferences and interviews.  

Pope Francis’ relationship with President Zelensky

Since the war started, Pope Francis has spoken twice by phone (Feb. 26 and March 22) with President Zelensky, whom he had met face to face in the Vatican on Feb. 8, 2020. Moreover, he has received the Ukrainian prime minister and many parliamentarians in private audiences since the Russian invasion and has also met the wives of Ukrainian soldiers whose husbands were prisoners of war, and many refugees, including children.

The Holy See has had a nuncio, an ambassador, in Kyiv, the Lithuanian-born Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, who has been there throughout the war and reports regularly on the situation to the pope and the Vatican.

Francis has had the Vatican engage in humanitarian initiatives during the war. He sent the Polish-born Cardinal Konrad Krajewski on several missions to Ukraine with various forms of humanitarian aid, including ambulances and thermal shirts. Francis has also been involved in the exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine. Delegates from President Zelenskyy have brought the pope lists of names on at least five occasions, and he passed them onto the Russian authorities; many hundreds of prisoners have been released on both sides.

On the eve of his visit to Budapest, April 27, the Ukrainian prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, visited Francis in the Vatican and asked him to facilitate the return of thousands of Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia during the war. The pope promised to do everything possible in this regard.

These humanitarian efforts have been like stars in the dark night of war.

Pope Francis’ relationship with Vladimir Putin

Ever since the war started, Pope Francis has tried to make direct contact with President Putin, but so far without success. On the second day of the war, casting aside protocol, Francis visited the Russian embassy to the Holy See and asked the ambassador to convey a message to President Putin, saying he was willing to go to Moscow to speak with him, but the Russian leader has refused to have any direct contact with the pope since he launched the invasion. Instead, he had his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, respond to Francis saying his involvement was “not necessary.”  

A follow-up phone call on the pope’s behalf on March 8, 2022, by Cardinal Parolin to Mr. Lavrov, repeating Francis’ call for a stop to the fighting, was equally unsuccessful. 

Speaking to journalists Sept. 15, 2022, after his visit to Kazakhstan, Pope Francis, responding to criticisms for not calling out Putin, emphasized the need for dialogue, even if it means engaging “with states that have started a war.”

Pope Francis: “I don’t exclude dialogue with any sort of power that is at war, even if it is with the aggressor. It may ​​‘smell,’ but one has to do it."

He said, “I don’t exclude dialogue with any sort of power that is at war, even if it is with the aggressor. It may ​​‘smell,’ but one has to do it. But we must always be one step ahead, with an outstretched hand, always! Otherwise, we close the only reasonable door to peace.”

Returning from Budapest last month, Francis sought to explain his efforts to keep dialogue open. “I believe that peace is always made by opening channels; peace can never be made by closure. I invite everyone to open relationships, channels of friendship. ... This is not easy,” he said. 

He said he had told this to various people, including Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, whom he met in Budapest and who is the only leader of the European Union’s 27 states who is an ally of President Putin. Mr. Orbán refuses to allow arms to be transported to Ukraine across the 85-mile border between the two countries, and claims that he and Francis are the only leaders working for peace.

How Francis communicates with Russia

While Francis has been able to communicate directly and indirectly with President Zelensky since the war started, the same is not true with President Putin, whom he has met face to face three times (2013, 2015, 2019). They last spoke together when Putin phoned to wish him 85th birthday greetings in Dec. 2021. Since then, Francis said, his main line of communication has been through the Russian ambassador to the Holy See, Aleksandr Avdeyev. On the flight from Budapest, he said: “I have a good relationship with the ambassador who is now leaving; he has been the ambassador in the Vatican for seven years, he is a great man, a man comme il faut , a serious, cultured, and balanced person. My relationship with the Russians is mainly with this ambassador.”

The pope has communicated with the Kremlin also through Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, who met the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, during the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Sept. 22, 2022. 

Moreover, the Vatican has a nuncio in Moscow, the Italian Archbishop Giovanni d’Aniello, who has been there throughout the war and is able to report back to Rome.

Besides the formal diplomatic channels, Francis also tries to make use of non-diplomatic ones to communicate with the Russian leadership, and especially Russian Orthodox church officials, even though most of them, like Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, are subservient to Putin. Only a small number of Orthodox priests have opposed the war and are reportedly now in prison. 

Besides the formal diplomatic channels, Francis also tries to make use of non-diplomatic ones to communicate with the Russian leadership.

On March 16, 2022, Francis had a 40-minute conversation by Zoom with Kirill. An outspoken supporter of the war, the patriarch sought to defend the “special military operation” but Francis called on him to be a pastor, not “the acolyte of the state.” The pope’s remark upset Kirill, according to informed sources; they have not spoken directly to each other since. They were scheduled to have a face-to-face meeting in Jerusalem in June 2021, but Francis canceled that because of the war.

Since their Zoom conversation, Francis has communicated with Kirill through the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, first Metropolitan Hilarion and, since June 2022, through his successor, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk. 

Anthony visited the pope in the Vatican on August 5, 2022, and discussed Orthodox-Catholic relations in the context “of political processes taking place in the world.” Soon after, he let it be known that Kirill would not attend the Congress of World and Traditional Religions in Kazakhstan (Sept. 13-15) where Francis was scheduled to speak and where some had expected the patriarch and pope to have a face-to-face meeting. 

On the plane from Budapest, Francis affirmed that the meeting with the patriarch “will happen” but gave no indication as to when that might be. Vatican sources, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak, told America that Francis is unlikely to meet Kirill until the war has ended.

Vatican sources, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak, told America that Francis is unlikely to meet Kirill until the war has ended.

In Budapest, Pope Francis received Metropolitan Hilarion in a 20-minute private audience. Hilarion had been Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate from 2009 to 2022 when he was demoted and reassigned to Budapest in June 2022, allegedly for his opposition to the war. Hilarion was succeeded by Antony. Francis has known Hilarion since 2013, they have met many times and on the plane he said: “Hilarion is someone I respect very much, and we have always had a good relationship. And he was kind enough to come and see me [in Budapest], then he came to the Mass, and I saw him here at the airport as well. Hilarion is an intelligent person with whom one can talk, and these relationships need to be maintained, because if we talk about ecumenism—I like this, I don't like this—we must have an outstretched hand with everyone, even receive their hand.” 

Asked if he had talked about peace with Orbán and Hilarion, Francis said, in the meeting “We talked about all these things. We talked about this because everyone is interested in the road to peace. I am willing. I am willing to do whatever needs to be done. Also, there is a mission going on now, but it is not public yet. Let's see how....When it is public I will talk about it.”

Hilarion’s position is delicate, and in response to speculation in the media, he made clear on his website portal “there was nothing [at the meeting with Francis] concerning bilateral relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church. No political issues were discussed. The meeting was of a personal nature between two old friends.”

After Francis’ return to the Vatican, Metropolitan Anthony arrived in Rome (May 1-4) “with Patriarch Kirill’s blessing.” His visit, however, was for private business that was in no way related to the pope’s peace mission, Vatican sources told America . He met Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches, and greeted Pope Francis for a few minutes at the end of the Wednesday public audience in St. Peter’s Square. He also visited Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity, whom he has known for many years, but did not meet Cardinal Kurt Koch, the prefect of the dicastery, who was in Israel at that time.

Anthony’s presence in Rome and his greeting the pope sparked inevitable speculation in the media that it was linked to the peace mission, but Cardinal Parolin categorically denied this on the day of the audience saying, “It had nothing to do with this!”

Russia and Ukraine knew about Francis’ peace initiative

At the same time, Cardinal Parolin expressed surprise that spokespersons for the presidents of Ukraine and Russia claimed ignorance of the pope’s peace mission. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters May 2 that Moscow had no information about the initiative. CNN reported that an unnamed Ukrainian official close to the presidential office said: “President Zelensky has not consented to any such discussions on Ukraine’s behalf. If talks are happening, they are happening without our knowledge or our blessing.”

”I know that both parties have been informed,” Cardinal Parolin said May 3 , “to my knowledge, they were and are aware.” He added, “As far as I know, they know.”

The cardinal’s next remark, however, appeared to suggest that the pope’s first aim is to get both sides to agree to a ceasefire, before the peace process could start. ”I don't know if there are the conditions today for a ceasefire. Let's hope.... I believe that this initiative—if there will be one—by the Vatican should also go in that direction,” the cardinal said. Vatican Media reported that the cardinal went on to add that the hope is that a cessation of fighting might take place and that a peace process could follow.

On May 4, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by RIA Novosti, a Russian state news agency, offered a more nuanced response to his original denial: “We know that the Pope is constantly thinking about peace and how to end this conflict, but we are not aware of any detailed plan proposed by the Vatican.” 

“While Putin is not open to direct communication with the pope right now, the calculation here is that he may be more ready for this in some months’ if the war is not going his way.”

That both Russia and Ukraine would issue denials of a peace mission is to a certain degree comprehensible, as neither side wants to stop fighting at this moment. Ukraine wants to regain its lost territory before considering a peace plan and is about to launch a major military offensive to achieve that goal. Russia, for its part, wants to defend all the territory it has taken since 2014 and, if possible, make further gains. To say one is ready to discuss a ceasefire, much less a peace plan, would be equivalent to a sign of weakness on the Ukrainian part and would leave Russia in a stronger position since it holds Ukrainian territory. The Russians, too, do not want a ceasefire; they need to make further gains if they are to consolidate what they have already captured.

Sources told America that Francis wants to bring about a ceasefire as soon as possible, to stop the killing and destruction, before moving into the more problematic area of peace negotiations. One Vatican source said, “While Putin is not open to direct communication with the pope right now, the calculation here is that he may be more ready for this in some months if the war is not going his way.”

Some in Rome think Pope Francis may have in mind the all-out effort made by John Paul II in 2003 to prevent the war in Iraq. That year, the Polish pope sent the French Cardinal Roger Etchegeray to Baghdad to speak with Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi leader received him on February 15 and engaged in a conversation that appeared to offer a glimmer of hope for a last-minute way out of the crisis. Two weeks later, John Paul II dispatched the Italian Cardinal Pio Laghi, a friend of the Bush family, to Washington, D.C., to speak with President George W. Bush. When they met in the Oval Office on March 5, the cardinal handed Mr. Bush a personal letter from the pope, but the president put it on the table without opening it and went on to inform the cardinal that he believed he was “doing God’s will” by launching the war. President Bush’s mind was closed to mediation, and the negative consequences of his decision are still with us today, as Francis saw when he visited the country March 5-8, 2021.  

The situation facing Francis is, of course, totally different from the one that faced John Paul II 20 years ago. President Putin has already launched the war and today, more than 430 days later, shows no intention of ending it. Nor does he show any sign of being open to a ceasefire proposal from Francis any more than President Bush was to John Paul II’s effort to prevent the war. 

Pope Francis believes in the power of prayer, knowing that nothing is impossible for God. He believes “it is not impossible” for him to get to Moscow, as he told La Nación on March 10. He knows it is a steep, uphill task to get both sides to agree to a ceasefire, but he feels it is his moral duty to try, and also to seek to engage other heads of state and of international organizations in this effort.

Gerard O’Connell is America ’s Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History . He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.

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Pope francis says he cannot visit kyiv or moscow soon due to knee problem.

LISBON – Pope Francis will not be able to visit Moscow and Kyiv until after a gathering of religious leaders in Kazakhstan on Sept. 13-15 on his doctor’s orders due to a knee problem , he told CNN Portugal in an interview to be aired in full later on Monday.

In an excerpt published on the channel’s website, Francis was asked about his previously announced plans to visit Ukraine and Russia following his recent trip to Canada to foster dialogue for the end of hostilities between the two countries.

“Now I cannot go because after the trip to Canada there’s been a bit of a setback with the knee recovery and the doctor banned it, saying ‘Before Kazakhstan you cannot travel,'” Francis said.

“But I have been maintaining contact over the telephone … Among all of us, something could be done. I’m following (the situation) with my pain and my prayers. But the situation is really tragic,” he said.

“I always believe that by having a dialogue, we advance.”

In an exclusive interview with Reuters in July, Francis said he wanted to visit Kyiv but also wanted to go to Moscow, preferably first, to promote peace .

He then told Reuters he had suffered “a small fracture” in the knee when he took a misstep while a ligament was inflamed.

Francis is due to be in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan to attend the VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.

Francis has implicitly accused Russia of “armed conquest, expansionism and imperialism” in Ukraine.

The Vatican has recently had to evoke his condemnations of the war to mend strained relations with Ukraine after Francis upset Kyiv by referring to Russian ultra-nationalist Darya Dugina, who was killed by a car bomb near Moscow, as an innocent victim of war.

Kerfuffle erupts in Rome over ownership of Spanish Steps, iconic churches

In china’s shadow, pope asks singapore to promote peace, multilateralism.

Pope Francis is welcomed by dancing children as he arrives at Singapore Changi International Airport, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. Pope Francis is heading to Singapore for the final leg of his 11-day trip to Asia and Oceania. (Credit: Gregorio Borgia/AP.)

SINGAPORE – Pope Francis on his first day of events in Singapore told national authorities they have a role to play in helping broker an end to global conflicts while praising their commitment to multilateralism and promoting the common good.

Speaking to national authorities and members of the diplomatic corps in Singapore Sept. 12, the pope said the city-state has “a specific role to play on the international level, which is threatened by conflict and wars that have spilled much blood,” adding impromptu, “let us not forget this.”

Francis voiced appreciation for Singapore’s support of multilateralism, a key geopolitical priority of history’s first pope from the developing world, and “a rules-based order shared by all.”

“I encourage you to continue to work in favor of the unity and fraternity of humanity and the common good of all peoples and all nations, in a way that does not exclude others or is restricted to your national interests,” he said.

Though the pope did not mention any conflict specifically, it is widely believed he was referencing the war in Ukraine, including a potential role for Singapore in engaging China in identifying a path to peace.

China has so far remained largely neutral on the Russia-Ukraine war, having refrained from condemning Russia’s Feb. 24, 2022, invasion, while also abstaining during United Nations votes on the conflict.

Pope Francis has gone to great lengths to engage Chinese authorities on humanitarian and peacekeeping efforts, sending his personal peace envoy to Ukraine, Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, to Beijing last year to discuss possibilities for achieving peace.

Due to strong bilateral relations that Singapore and China enjoy, many observers believe that Singapore could potentially be a significant mediator.

Francis also touched on the environmental crisis, saying Singapore can also play an important role in moving things in the right direction thanks to their resources and innovation.

“Your commitment to sustainable development and the preservation of creation is an example to follow, and your search for innovative solutions to address environmental challenges can encourage other countries to do the same,” he said.

Pope Francis spoke to Singaporean authorities after paying a courtesy visit to the President, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and holding a private meeting with the Prime Minister, Lawrence Wong, on his second day in the country.

His visit to Singapore is the second papal visit to the city-state, after a brief stop by St. John Paul II in 1986.

Shanmugaratnam on Thursday praised the Holy See under Francis for being “a strong and principled advocate for human fraternity and environmental sustainability.”

He pointed to various global challenges, saying, “The global order is weakening, and conflict and aggression remain unabated.”

“There has been growing intolerance within societies themselves. At the same time, we are seeing accelerating climate change, making the world less safe for humanity,” he said, saying the international community must “make more determined and forthright efforts to address each of these challenges.”

Shanmugaratnam himself addressed the issue of war, saying Pope Francis has been “an impassioned global voice” against it, calling repeatedly for peace.

He also lauded the pope for his efforts in promoting interfaith and intercultural harmony and dialogue.

“There was a time in our history when these realities gave rise to inter-communal tensions. For us, solidarity and harmony have therefore been at the core, and will remain core features in our national development,” he said.

Pope Francis called Singapore “a commercial crossroads of primary importance and a place where different peoples meet.”

He recalled Singapore’s struggle for independence from Malaysia, which it achieved in August 1965, noting that in the decades since, the small city-state has become one of the world’s most prosperous nations, with a highly developed free market economy and strong international trade relations.

Singapore’s story, the pope said, “is one of growth and resilience. From humble beginnings, this nation has reached an advanced level of development, which can only stem from rational decisions and not by chance.”

Successful development, he said, is the result of a firm commitment to promoting projects and initiatives “that are well thought-out and in tune with the specific characteristics of the place.”

Francis praised Singapore’s commitment not just to economic prosperity, but also to promoting social justice and the common good, and pointed to specific initiatives, such as sustainable housing policies, investment in education, and an efficient healthcare system.

Yet the pope warned that there is a risk “in focusing solely on pragmatism or placing merit above all things.”

“Namely the unintended consequence of justifying the exclusion of those on the margins from benefiting from progress,” he said.

To this end, he acknowledged various projects aimed at supporting the vulnerable, especially the poor and elderly, as well as migrant workers. These workers, he said, “contribute a great deal to society and should be guaranteed a fair wage.”

Francis pointed to the rapid development of modern technologies, including artificial intelligence, but cautioned against the diminishment of personal interaction, saying strides forward in this sector “must not lead us to forget about the essential need to cultivate real and concrete human relationships.”

“These technologies should be used to bring us closer together by promoting understanding and solidarity, and never to isolate ourselves in a dangerously false and intangible reality,” he said.

Francis alluded to Singapore’s vast cultural, ethnic and religious diversity, noting that regardless of their different backgrounds, citizens live together peacefully. This inclusiveness, he said, “is facilitated by the impartiality of public authorities who engage in constructive dialogue with all.”

A willingness to dialogue makes it possible, he said, for “everyone to make their own unique contribution to the common good and preventing extremism and intolerance from gaining strength or endangering social harmony.”

His appeal for an end to extremism comes after a similar appeal made during his visit to Jakarta, where he met with the Grand Imam of the city’s famed Istiqlal Mosque and urged Islamic authorities to adopt an attitude of moderation and interreligious dialogue.

It also comes the day after the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack in the United States that targeted the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, claiming nearly 3,000 lives.

“Mutual respect, cooperation, dialogue and the freedom to exercise one’s beliefs within the confines of the law are the conditions that allow for Singapore’s success and stability,” the pope said.

These qualities, he said, “are necessary for avoiding conflict and chaos and provide instead for a balanced and sustainable development.”

Francis pointed to the Church’s contribution to Singaporean society, particularly in the fields of healthcare and education, and acknowledged the role of missionaries in laying the foundation for the success of these initiatives.

He pointed to Nostra Aetate , the Second Vatican Council’s 1965 declaration on relations with non-Christian religions, saying the Church has consistently promoted interreligious dialogue and cooperation between all faith communities.

The Church has done so, he said, “in a spirit of openness and mutual respect, which are fundamental for building a just and peaceful society.”

He also underlined the importance of the role of the family, noting that the foundations of family life “are being challenged by current social conditions, and run the risk of being weakened.”

“Families must be allowed to transmit the values that give meaning and shape to life and to teach young people how to form solid and healthy relationships,” he said, and called for the promotion of initiatives that “promote, protect and support family unity through the work of various institutions.”

Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen

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Pope thanks Our Lady for Apostolic Journey to Asia and Oceania

By Devin Watkins

As he returned to the Vatican from Fiumicino Airport on Friday, Pope Francis stopped off for a brief visit to the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

The Pope paused to pray for a moment at the feet of the ancient icon of Maria Salus Populi Romani , according to the Holy See Press Office.

He set a bouquet of flowers on the altar in the Gregorian Chapel, expressing his gratitude for her maternal protection during his 12-day Apostolic Journey to Asia and Oceania.

Pope Francis then returned to his car, which took him to his residence at the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican.

The Pope visited Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Singapore, making this the longest journey of his pontificate.

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