Pope Francis Pledges to Reveal Vatican’s Public Mission on Ukraine
Pope Francis waves as he celebrates a holy mass at Kossuth Lajos’ Square during his visit in Budapest on April 30, 2023, the last day of his tree-day trip to HungaryInternationalIndiaAfricaOleg BurunovUkraine topped the agenda of the Pope’s visit to Hungary last week, where the Pontiff spoke with Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The Vatican is on a peace mission aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine, Pope Francis has revealed.
"There is a mission in course now but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it," he told reporters after his visit to Hungary on Sunday, adding that the Vatican is also ready to help "repatriate" Ukrainian children taken to Russia.
The Pontiff said that he thinks peace is “always made by opening channels” and that one “can never achieve peace through [their] closure.”
According to the Pope, he had spoken about the situation in Ukraine with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and with Metropolitan Hilarion, a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Budapest. "In these meetings, we did not just talk about Little Red Riding Hood. We spoke of all these things. Everyone is interested in the road to peace," Francis emphasized.
Separately, he made it clear that “the Holy See is willing” to help “repatriate” Ukrainian children because “it is the right thing.”He spoke after Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmygal met Pope Francis at the Vatican last week and asked for help in what he described as the “repatriation” of the Ukrainian children, who Kiev claims were illegally deported to Russia.This followed developments in March, when the International Criminal Court (ICC), whose jurisdiction is not recognized by Russia, issued a warrant for the arrest of President Vladimir Putin and Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova, citing the “unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”WorldLog in the Eye: Western Crimes Against Children in War Zones Revealed22 April, 16:14 GMTThe Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia was quick to respond at the time by stressing that “first of all, the ICC’s decision is absolutely null and void for us” and that the court showed that it had reached “new lows,” for which it had long been heading to.The remarks followed the Russian Embassy in the US stating that Moscow has been doing “everything possible” for the protection and safety of the Ukrainian children, who were forced to flee their country because of the “atrocities” of Ukrainian troops.”Russia accepted children who had been forced to flee with their families from the shelling and atrocities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We do our best to keep minors in families, and in case of absence or death of parents and relatives, to transfer orphans under guardianship. We ensure the protection of their lives and well-being,” the embassy said in a statement on its Telegram page.The Russian diplomats added that Washington should give “adequate assessment of the actions of the Kiev regime,” which “kills and injures children” in the course of the Ukraine conflict. The diplomats also said that 153 children were killed in the Donbass region in 2022 and 279 others were injured as a result of shelling conducted by Ukrainian forces.”By using Western weapons, including US HIMARS rocket systems, the Armed Forces of Ukraine target civilian infrastructure — schools, kindergartens and hospitals. These facts are shamelessly silenced by Washington for the sake of whitewashing itself and denigrating Russia,” the statement pointed out.AmericasUS Should Not Send More Aid to Fund ‘Proxy War’ in Ukraine – Congressman Gosar 24 April, 17:09 GMTThe US and its allies ramped up military aid to Kiev shortly after Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly warned that Western countries’ weapon supplies to Kiev add to prolonging the Ukraine conflict.