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Pope Francis has given Russia’s President Vladimir Putin the edge of his tongue for launching a “savage” war.
Rather than use the Russian president’s name, Francis instead referred to Putin as “some potentate” who had unleashed the threat of nuclear war on the world in an “infantile and destructive aggression” under the guise of “anachronist claims of nationalistic interests”.
“From the east of Europe, from the land of the sunrise, the dark shadows of war have now spread.
“We had thought that invasions of other countries, savage street fighting and atomic threats were grim memories of a distant past,” the pope said.
The “icy winds of war, which bring only death, destruction and hatred in their wake, have swept down powerfully upon the lives of many people and affected us all,” Francis said.
Moscow denies targeting civilians in its so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine.
It claims this “operation” – aka “war” to the rest of the world including the pope – is meant not to occupy territory but to demilitarise and “denazify” its neighbour.
The Vatican, which in recent years has forged unprecedented new relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, has offered itself as a potential mediator.
So far, the offer hasn’t been taken up, although the pope has had several invitations to visit as a messenger of peace.
Invitations for peace talks have been proffered by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Ukraine’s Byzantine-rite Catholic Church, and Ukraine’s ambassador to the Vatican, Andriy Yurash.
Francis has spoken on the phone with Zelensky and Shevchuk.
Although Francis has told reporters the idea of such a visit is being considered, he added that no plans have been made yet.
Forging peace in a savage war
It is unusual for the Vatican to directly challenge aggressors. Instead, it tends to work on the side of keeping open options for dialogue.
That may be why to date, despite his obvious concern and outrage over the war, Francis has referred to Russia directly only in prayers, such as during a special global event for peace on March 25.
“Now in the night of the war that is fallen upon humanity, let us not allow the dream of peace to fade,” he said on that occasion.
He also criticised the armaments industry and expressed distress at the fading enthusiasm for peace that emerged after World War Two.
The clash of interests and ideologies have “re-emerged powerfully in the seductions of autocracy, new forms of imperialism (and) widespread aggressiveness,” he said.
Source
- Global News
- Reuters
- Image: YahooNews
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News category: Palmerston, World.
