Far from eye to eye, the Holy See’s comments on Ukraine prompted backlash that included a nod to Nazi Germany.
The end of February also marked two years since the Russian invasion of Ukraine kicked off a war impacting people around the world. Early talks of a negotiated peace had fallen away in favor of a must-win narrative out of Kyiv and the West that continued to be pushed, including in direct response to a recently renewed effort from Pope Francis to inspire “the courage of the white flag.”
“Nobody at the time of World War II was proposing to the people enslaved by Hitler or those who were suffering or fighting him to start peace negotiations,” argued Ukraine’s ambassador to the Vatican, Andrii Yurash as he told NBC News via phone how he could not accept the logic from the leader of the Catholic Church.
“Because a truce with Hitler was suicide and death,” he went on. “Similarly, a truce with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is suicide and death.”
In an interview with Swiss broadcaster RSI slated to premiere March 20, the pontiff, frequently criticized for siding with leftist political positions, had reportedly said, “I think that the strongest one is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about the people and has the courage of the white flag, and negotiates.”
“The word negotiate is a courageous word. When you see that you are defeated, that things are not going well, you have to have the courage to negotiate,” the pope added. “One may feel shame, but how many dead will it (the war) end up with? (One should) negotiate in time, find a country that can be a mediator. Do not be ashamed of negotiating, before things get worse.”
“Negotiating,” he contended, “is never a surrender.”
Joining in Yurash’s opposition to calls to negotiate, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church released its own statement arguing that Ukrainians “cannot stop defending themselves, because capitulation means their death.”
Likewise, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba had posted on X a reaction that read in part, “Our flag is a yellow and blue one. This is the flag by which we live, die, and prevail. We shall never raise any other flags.”
“We thank His Holiness Pope Francis for his constant prayers for peace, and we continue to hope that after two years of devastating war in the heart of Europe, the Pontiff will find an opportunity to pay an Apostolic visit to Ukraine to support over a million Ukrainian Catholics, over five million Greek-Catholics, all Christians, and all Ukrainians,” wrote Kuleba.
The strongest is the one who, in the battle between good and evil, stands on the side of good rather than attempting to put them on the same footing and call it “negotiations”.
At the same time, when it comes to the white flag, we know this Vatican’s strategy from the first half…
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 10, 2024
Meanwhile, the Director of the Holy See Press Office Matteo Bruni fielded questions from the press Saturday regarding the comments on negotiation and said, “The pope uses the term white flag, and responds by picking up the image proposed by the interviewer, to indicate a cessation of hostilities, a truce reached with the courage of negotiation. Elsewhere in the interview, speaking of another situation of conflict, but referring to every situation of war, the pope clearly stated: ‘Negotiations are never a surrender.’”
“The pope’s hope is and remains that which he has always repeated in these years,” the director stated, “and reiterated recently on the occasion of the second anniversary of the conflict: ‘As I renew my very deep affection for the martyred Ukrainian people and pray for all, especially for the many innocent victims, I implore that a little bit of humanity can be found that allows the creation of the conditions for a diplomatic solution in search of a just and lasting peace.’”
“Let us pray for peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as in martyred Ukraine and in the Holy Land,” the pontiff’s social media account read Sunday. “May the hostilities that cause immense suffering to the civilian population cease as soon as possible.”
Let us pray for peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as in martyred Ukraine and in the Holy Land. May the hostilities that cause immense suffering to the civilian population cease as soon as possible.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) March 10, 2024
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Author: Kevin Haggerty
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