The conflict in Ukraine and the lost fraternityCzerny highlights Church's work in Ukraine conflictTranslation of the article into German
Not a day goes by without Pope Francis calling for an end to the war. Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, it has been a constant concern, manifested in every public encounter, from audiences with the faithful to Easter celebrations to the Angelus and Regina Caeli from the window of St. Peter's Square.
The last public appeal was last Sunday, when he confessed to "suffer and cry" thinking about the suffering of the Ukrainian population exhausted by more than two months of shelling.
He then invited us to offer the daily Rosary, especially in this month of May dedicated to Our Lady, for peace. In the face of the "macabre regression of humanity" - this is how the Pope defined what is happening - one wonders, in fact, if we really seek peace and want to avoid "the continuous military and verbal escalation".
"I beg you, do not give in to the logic of violence, to the perverse spiral of weapons. Please, do not give in to the logic of violence, to the perverse spiral of weapons.
Concern and discouragement
In an interview with the editor-in-chief and deputy editor of the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della SeraPope Francis once again showed his concern and discouragement about what is happening, without hiding a vein of pessimism, as his interlocutors said.
He then let it be known, while all the diplomatic steps are being taken to reach an immediate "cease-fire", that he had offered to visit Moscow a few weeks after the conflict began, but had not received a reply. However, he is bitter because he sees no way to stop "so much brutality": "25 years ago we lived through the same thing with Rwanda", the Pontiff says bluntly, comparing the conflict in Ukraine with the African genocide.
The arms trade is a scandal
Asked whether he believes it is right to send weapons to Ukraine, the Pope replied, "I cannot answer, I am too far away, the question of whether it is right to supply the Ukrainians. What is clear is that weapons are being tested in that land." He added: "That's what wars are made for: to test the weapons we have produced. This is what happened in the Spanish civil war before World War II."
So he reiterates, as he has done on many other occasions, that "the arms trade is a scandal" and that there are very few who oppose it.
I would go to see Putin...
He then clarifies also the idea of his visit to Kiev, where in any case he has sent several times as representatives Cardinal Czerny (Dicastery for the Promotion of the Service of Integral Human Development) and Almoner Krajewski, and says that for the moment he prefers to go first to Moscow: "I must first meet with Putin. But I am also a priest, what can I do? I do what I can. If Putin would open the door...".
The online meeting with Kirill...
As for the meeting with Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, he revealed that he spent the first twenty minutes reading a series of "justifications for war" from his interlocutor: "I listened to him and told him: I don't understand any of this. Brother, we are not clergymen of the state, we cannot use the language of politics, but the language of Jesus... we must seek ways of peace, stop the fire of weapons."
Knee surgery
The Pope will undergo today a small operation on his knee, an infiltration, to overcome a pain that has forced him to avoid movement for several weeks. It seems that he has a torn ligament: "It takes a little pain, a little humiliation...".
