Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, Pope Francis’ personal peace envoy for the Russia-Ukraine war, will head to Moscow today, following a similar visit to Kyiv earlier this month. Source: Crux.
In a statement yesterday, the Vatican said Cardinal Zuppi would visit Moscow today and Wednesday alongside a representative from the Vatican’s Secretariat of State “as an envoy of Pope Francis”.
According to the statement, “the principal scope of the initiative is to encourage acts of humanity which can contribute to favouring a solution to the current tragic situation and to finding paths for reaching a just peace”.
Archbishop of Bologna and President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Zuppi made a two-day visit to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv from June 5-6, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other top state and religious officials, including Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Sviatoslav Shevchuk.
Pope Francis initially hinted that he was planning a peace mission to Ukraine on his return flight from Hungary earlier this year, and last month it was announced that Cardinal Zuppi would serve as his official envoy.
Though he offered no specifics, he mentioned the return of Ukrainian children deported to Russia as something the Vatican could potentially help facilitate as an “act of humanity.”
Cardinal Zuppi’s visit to Ukraine came nearly one month after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Pope Francis at the Vatican during a whirlwind trip to Italy to foster support for Ukraine’s military defence.
At the time, Mr Zelenskyy thanked Pope Francis for his interest but appeared to decline the Vatican’s offer of mediating negotiations. However, he did ask the Pope to intervene in the return of Ukrainian children.
FULL STORY
Pope’s peace envoy to visit Moscow in wake of aborted insurrection (By Elise Ann Allen, Crux)
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