Pope Francis asked for a “just and stable peace” for the war in Ukraine that he regretted “it seems to have no end” in a speech he delivered today to the delegation of the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate that visited Rome for the Feast of Saint Peter and Paul.
“The climate of this meeting also leads us to share concerns; one above all, that of peace, especially in the tormented Ukraine. It is a war that, touching us more closely, shows us how in reality all wars are only catastrophes, total catastrophes: for peoples and families, for children and the elderly, for people who are forced to leave their country, for cities and towns, and for creation,” Francis said in the speech he did not read but delivered to the participants.
The Pope also cited as a disaster against Creation “the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam” which occurred in Ukraine a few weeks ago.
“The tragic reality of this war that seems to have no end requires everyone to make a common creative effort to imagine and carry out paths of peace, towards a just and stable peace,” Francis added.
He explained that peace is “a gift from the Lord” but that “it is a gift that requires a corresponding attitude on the part of the human being, and especially of the believer, who must participate in the pacifying work of God”.
This Thursday ended the mission in Moscow of the Pope’s envoy to try to achieve peace in Ukraine, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi,
And during his meeting yesterday with the Russian Patriarch, Cyril, the Orthodox hierarch assured that the Orthodox and Catholic Churches can join forces to serve the cause of peace and justice.
Zuppi, who arrived in Moscow last Tuesday, has already met with the adviser to the Russian Presidency for International Affairs, Yuri Ushakov, and the presidential commissioner for the Rights of the Child in Russia, Maria Lvova-Belova, on whom an order weighs of arrest of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The cardinal’s visit to Moscow comes three weeks after Zuppi was in Kiev, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski, who reiterated that he will not accept any cessation of hostilities that does not involve the Russian withdrawal from their territories. .