Pope Francis has warned that “we should be humble about what’s possible” regarding the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine. “We shouldn’t have illusions that the two leaders of the war will go eat together tomorrow,” he said.
The Holy Father made his comments on the papal plane on his way back to the Vatican from his recent trip to Marseille. His personal peace envoy, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, has made visits to Kyiv, Moscow, Washington DC, and Beijing, focusing primarily on the humanitarian aspect of the war, including the return of Ukrainian children deported to Russia.
Although the Pope did not offer details of the status of Zuppi’s mission or what might come next, he said the work on retuning Ukrainian children “is going well.” He conceded, however, that at times he feels “frustration” over the lack of progress in the situation in Ukraine, noting that the Vatican’s Secretariat of State is “doing everything to help”.
Pope Francis also reiterated his condemnations of the global arms trade.
“This war brings to mind something involved not only in Russia and Ukraine, [which is] to sell weapons, the arms trade… today the investments that give the most profits are the production of arms, the production of death,” he said.
“We should not play with the martyrdom of this people … we must resolve things in the most possible way. We shouldn’t have illusions that the two leaders of the war will go eat together tomorrow. We should be humble about what’s possible,” the pope said.
Pope Francis also appeared to criticize countries that have promised arms to Ukraine but are reconsidering such support.
“Now we see that some countries are going backward, they aren’t giving weapons, and a process is beginning in which the martyrs are the Ukrainian people, certainly. This is something terrible,” he said.
The Vatican later issued a clarification, saying the Pope’s point was that arms merchants never pay the price of their choices, which fall upon “martyred” peoples such as the Ukrainians.
The pontiff was also asked about his outspoken messages in favour of migrants during his brief visit and whether, after ten years of repeating the same thing since his July 2013 visit to the Italian island of Lampedusa, a primary destination point for migrants from North African seeking entry into Europe, he feels he has failed.
“I would say not. I’d say that growth happens slowly. Today there is awareness of the migratory problem. There is awareness.” Pope Francis condemned situations in which migrants are treated “like a ping pong [ball], sent back… they end up worse than before.”
“It’s a reign of terror. They suffer not only because they need to leave, but the suffer because of the reign of terror there, they are slaves. We can’t, without looking at things, send them back like a ping pong ball,” he said.
Pope Francis again insisted that migrants must be “welcomed, accompanied, promoted and integrated…but don’t let them fall into the hands of these cruel people.”
He said he invited the head of the Mediterranean group Saving Humans to attend the upcoming Synod of Bishops on Synodality, saying the organization has “terrible stories” to tell.
Referring to his visit to Lampedusa, the Holy Father said he did not even know where the island was when he decided to go, but had read stories and in prayer felt a tug saying he needed to go.
“In prayer I heard inside, you have to go there, as if the Lord led me there,” he said.
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