Francis first spoke cryptically of his intention to launch an mission when he returned to the United States from a trip to Hungary. He didn’t give any details.
Zuppi will, according to an official Vatican source, try to arrange separate meetings with both the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zuppi, according to the Vatican will fulfill his mission in accordance with the Vatican Secretariat of State. He is expected to reduce tensions in Ukraine, in the hopes that the Holy father never gives up the possibility of initiating peace processes.
Francis, after his return from a trip to Hungary on April 30, made an fascinating statement about the Vatican’s participation in a mission aimed at ending the conflict.
“There is a secret mission in progress, but it’s not been made public.” He told reporters that he would make the information public as soon as it became available.
Vatican officials announced Saturday that details and timing for the mission were still being finalized.
Zuppi belongs to the Sant’ Egidio Community, a Rome-based organization that promotes justice and peace. The group brokered a deal in 1992 to end the Mozambique Civil War, which resulted in the deaths of over a thousand people and the displacement of four million others.
Pope Francis made him a cardinal in 2019. The Italian Episcopal Conference also elected him as head of the Italian Episcopal Conference.
Recently, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that “now is the time to take action in creating a peaceful and just peace in Ukraine”.
In 2003, the late Pope John Paul II sent high-level officials in Washington and Baghdad in an attempt to stop Iraq War.
Zelenskiy appeared to have minimized the possibility papal mediation when he met Pope Francis at the Vatican last Saturday.
“With all due respect for His Holiness, I do not think we need mediators. We need a peaceful and just peace. Zelenskiy said to Italian television that Putin was only a murderer.
In its statement on the day Zelenskiy arrived, the Vatican made no mention of such a visit. Zelenskiy asked for the pope’s support for Kyiv’s peace plan, which calls for the restoration and unification of Ukraine’s territory, the withdrawal of Russian troops, as well as the cessation hostilities.
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