The Pope has asked this Sunday, Ascension Day, that “please” the world does not get used to conflicts, war and violence, when remembering the situation in the “martyred” Ukraine and in Sudan after the Regina Caeli prayer.
“Please, let’s not get used to conflicts and violence, let’s not get used to war, please. And let us continue to be close to the martyred Ukrainian people“, he asked from the window of the Apostolic Palace after the Regina Caeli, which replaces the Angelus in the Easter period.
The Pontiff has also urged the international community “spare no effort to make dialogue prevail“in Sudan.
The director of the Vatican press office, Matteo Bruni, confirmed this Friday that the Pope has entrusted the president of the Italian bishops, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, with the task of mediating for peace in Ukraine.
The Pontiff considers in this way that the president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, travel to kyiv to hold talks with the Ukrainian president Volodimir Zelensky to mediate with the presidents of Ukraine and Russia and try to cement a ceasefire in the conflict. However, the Vatican has qualified that “the calendar of such a mission, and its modalities, are currently being studied.”
This new diplomatic gesture is part of the secret peace mission that Francis announced during the return flight from Budapest last month. The Pope then stressed: “I’m willing to do whatever needs to be done. Also, there is now a quest going on, but it’s not public yet. Let’s see how… When it’s public, I’ll tell it.”
The Vatican’s confirmation of Zuppi’s commission comes a day after the Vatican’s Department for Oriental Churches denied the involvement of its top official, Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, in the Pope’s secret mission to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine.