The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Eastern Churches has denied the involvement of its head, Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, in a secret mission by the pope to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine.
“The information about a peacekeeping mission entrusted to the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, has reached wide international dissemination. The Prefect is said to be unaware of anything said in this regard”the Vatican department said in a statement.
The Vatican news website ‘Il Sismografo’ reported on Thursday that the pope planned to send Archbishop Gurgerotti, who was Apostolic Nuncio to Belarus (2011-2015) and Ukraine (2015-2020), to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin . in its good relations with the current president of Belarus, Alexandr Lukashenko, who is the main ally of the Russian president.
According to the publication, the pope also considered the possibility that the president of the Italian bishops’ conference, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, would travel to Kiev to talk with Ukrainian president, Volodymir Zelensky, to act as an intermediary between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents. and try for a ceasefire in the conflict.
To date, the delegation has not been officially confirmed.
According to various Italian media, this new diplomatic action would be part of the secret peace mission that Pope Francis announced last month during his return flight from Budapest.
At the time, the pope emphasized: “I am ready to do whatever it takes. In addition, a mission is underway, but it is not yet public. We will see how. When it is public, I will let you know.” .
The governments of Moscow and Kiev replied within hours of each other that they were not aware of this peace initiative and that they had not received any specific communications.
In a recent statement, the Secretary of State and head of Vatican diplomacy, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said that “now is the time to take the initiative to bring about a just peace in Ukraine”.
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Source: DN
