The Pope helped mediate the prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, the magazine La Civiltà Cattolica of the Society of Jesus published on Thursday, stressing that Francis revealed his participation during the trip to Kazakhstan.
“Some Ukrainian envoys came to me. Among them, the vice-rector of the Catholic University of Ukraine, accompanied by the adviser to the president. [ucraniano, Volodymyr Zelensky] for religious matters, an evangelical”, Francis explained during a meeting in Kazakhstan with 19 Jesuits who worked in the so-called “Russian region” of the Society of Jesus, transcribed by the magazine.
“We talk, we discuss. A military chief who deals with the prisoner exchange also attended, always with President Zelensky’s religious adviser. This time they brought me a list of more than 300 prisoners. [a situação]. I immediately called the Russian ambassador to see if something could be done, if a prisoner exchange could be expedited,” the pope said.
Francis explained to the Jesuits that he wanted to keep the door open for dialogue from the very beginning of the conflict.
The Pope recalled that the day after the start of the war in Ukraine, on February 24, he went to the Russian embassy and told the ambassador that he would like to speak with the President [russo, Vladimir] Putin “as long as he left a small window for dialogue.”
Although the papal trip to kyiv is not ruled out, because “he always has it in mind,” Francis added that “God’s will is not to go now, perhaps later.”
On the conflict initiated by Russia on February 24, Francisco was categorical in the face of some criticism for his calls, without naming the aggressor.
“When a Ukrainian Catholic bishop came to visit me, I gave him a package with my statements about it. I defined the invasion of Ukraine as an unacceptable, disgusting, senseless, barbaric, sacrilegious aggression… Read all the statements!” fixed.
“However, to face the conflict it is necessary to remain close to the victims, which should not prevent reflection,” he added.
The Pope also referred to the controversy for his words about the death of Daria Duguina, daughter of the Kremlin ideologue Alexander Duguin who died in an attack, “as a victim of the conflict.”
“The common people in all conflicts are the real victims, who pay in their own skin for the follies of war. So I also referred to that young woman who was blown up. At that moment, everything I said was forgotten and the attention returned. just that reference. But I understand the reactions of the people, because they are suffering a lot, ”she clarified.
Francis reiterated that “there were international factors that contributed to provoking the war.”
The Pope recalled “that a head of state” told him in December 2021 that he was “very worried because NATO came to bark at the doors of Russia without understanding that the Russians are imperial and fear insecurity on the borders.”
“He expressed the fear that this would trigger a war, which happened after two months. Therefore, one cannot be simplistic in reasoning about the causes of the conflict. I see imperialism in conflict. When they feel threatened and in decline, imperialisms react thinking that the solution is to start a war,” she argued.
For the Pope, it is a mistake to think that it is only a war between Russia and Ukraine, or that it is “a ‘cowboy’ movie, in which there are good guys and bad guys”, instead of a “world war”. .
“There are those who say, for example, that the Spanish Civil War was fought to prepare for the Second World War. I don’t know if it really is, but it could be. I have no doubt, however, that they are already experiencing World War III,” Francis said.
Source: TSF
