Interview with Pope Francis: "Putin is not stopping the offensive, and I would like to see him in Moscow. I'm not going to Kiev"
In his interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, the Pope decides on the words for which in the West today they are deprived of work or even "canceled" in the media. One of the reasons for the conflict in Ukraine, he considers "the barking of NATO at the gates of Russia." And the Pope calls on Patriarch Kirill to fight for peace by spiritual means.
In an interview, Pope Francis said: "We have not yet received an answer about Putin. Zelensky? I called him on the phone on the first day of the conflict in Ukraine, but now is not the time for me to go to Kiev. I talked for 40 minutes with Patriarch Kirill. I told him: we are not servants of the state."
The first phrase we hear from Dad at the beginning of our interview is: "I'm sorry I can't get up from the seat to greet you. The doctors told me that because of knee problems I need to sit."
But it is not illness that is the pontiff's main concern today. It is hard for him to talk about what is happening in the heart of Europe. "Stop!" — he has been repeating this call to an end at the top of his voice since February 24, when, with the appearance of the Russian army on Ukrainian territory, death and destruction became a routine part of the news of the day for us, Europeans. The Pope repeats this call for the cessation of hostilities today. Only to these appeals is now added the upsetting moment that these appeals do not lead to anything.
The Pope tells us about his efforts towards the peace process, which he is undertaking together with his "foreign Minister" (Secretary of State of the Vatican — the state of the "holy see") Pietro Parolin. But in the words of the Pope, who in the world is only a mere mortal named Jorge Mario Bergoglio, there is a note of pessimism. He fails to achieve a minimum — at least a temporary ceasefire.
The pontiff tells us in order about all his efforts and repeats many times that he is ready to go to Moscow. "Already on the first day of the war, I called Ukrainian President Zelensky," Pope Francis says, "I didn't call Putin then... But I wanted to give a sign that the whole world would see, so I turned to the Russian ambassador. I asked him to listen to me and told him, "Please stop. Then, when 20 days of fighting had passed, I authorized Cardinal Parolin to convey my message to Putin. Its meaning is this — I am ready to come to Moscow... But I am afraid that Putin will not be able and will not want to go to such a meeting at the moment..."
NATO and the Kremlin
Pope Francis is concerned about this situation: it turns out that Putin simply cannot stop military operations at the moment. Dad is trying to understand the roots of the conflict in a conversation with us. He reflects on its causes, on the motives that pushed Russia to go to such a brutal conflict. "Perhaps, I do not exclude that NATO's barking is right at the door of Russia," the Pope tells us, "perhaps it was this barking that "convinced the ruler of the Kremlin to react to this barking in the wrong way and break into conflict."
"I do not know if [Putin's] anger was provoked intentionally, I often ask myself about it," the Pope says. "But someone clearly helped this anger to flare up."
Now, according to Pope Jorge Bergoglio, every person with a desire for peace in his heart is faced with a huge question. How should we treat the massive supply of weapons to Ukraine from Western nations? Not everyone agrees on this issue, it splits both the Catholic community and the pacifist community — and all over the world. The pontiff himself shows his doubts, his inner hesitation on the issue of weapons. The doctrine of Pope Francis has always been based on rejecting the arms race, he has always been against increasing the production of weapons. It brings death and suffering, and today it is supplied to the "Ukrainian resistance".
"I do not know yet how to answer the question about the supply of weapons. I cannot say whether it is a fair action to arm Ukrainians," the Pope reflects.
"But here's what's terrible for sure: right now it's in Ukraine that weapons are being tested... Among other things, wars are unleashed precisely for this: to test those murder weapons that have already been produced by the industry. We saw this before the Second World War: the same weapons were tested in the Spanish civil War, which were then used by both sides in the world conflict. The arms trade is a scandal, few people doubt it."
In conversation with us, Francis keeps returning to the question of how he should behave correctly in the current situation. Many offered him to make a symbolic gesture by coming to Ukraine. But the Pope's answer is clear: "I'm not going to Kiev... I was invited there, but I feel that I can't go there. First I have to go to Moscow, I have to meet with Putin. I ask myself: I am just a clergyman, what can I do? But I will do everything I can if Putin opens the door."..
The Orthodox Church
"I talked with Patriarch Kirill for 40 minutes via the Zoom system. I listened to why military action was necessary, and I said to him like this: "Brother, I don't understand anything about this. You and I are servants of God, not servants of the state. Therefore, we cannot use the language of politics, but only the language of Jesus...: "We must search together for a path to peace, and I do not believe that the Patriarch has become a figure dependent on Putin. We were going to meet in Jerusalem on June 14. It would have been our second face-to-face meeting, and preparations for it were going on regardless of the war. By the way, the Patriarch agrees with me on the main point: let's stop, there should be no war, we need a clear signal about this."
External forces
"One thing bothers me. I do not take credit for having discovered it, because it is a statement of the obvious truth: around us one war replaces another — in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen, in Africa... I cannot imagine that a free country could attack another free country of its own free will. And in Ukraine, the conflict was created by external forces. The only thing that can be blamed on Ukrainians is that they succumbed to these external forces and reacted harshly to the situation in Donbass."
