The Vatican’s secretary of state has said that a truce in Ukraine is “not only feasible but necessary and urgent”. Source: The Tablet
In an interview with the Italian weekly Famiglia Cristiana, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that he was “not in a position to tell you what peace is possible” but emphasised that “an end to the clashing of arms, the bombing, the destruction, is a necessary first step”.
He said that a truce would provide an opportunity to build a just peace but observed that “there is no justice without forgiveness”. This would require “a change of attitude reflected in actions”, he said, calling for “gestures of trust and goodwill, that create the conditions for dialogue and open the way to negotiations”.
“The Pope has been clear on this,” Cardinal Parolin added, referring to Pope Francis’s appeals last week to both Russian and Ukrainian governments to “be open” to negotiations.
Cardinal Parolin also insisted that “the door remains open and dialogue is not interrupted” between the Vatican and the Moscow patriarchate.
“On the part of the Holy See,” he said, “the desire has never waned even if circumstances have prevented it from becoming a reality. We sense that there is also this desire on the part of the Orthodox Church.”
In contrast, on October 3, the Russian Orthodox prelate responsible for the patriarchate’s foreign affairs said that relations with the Catholic Church were “practically frozen”.
Speaking on the state television station Russia 24, Metropolitan Anthony Sevryuk said: “At this stage I must say that some comments we read and hear not only from the lips of the Pope, but also the great part of his aides, absolutely do not contribute to the preparation of a new meeting and further cooperation.”
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Vatican appeals for ‘feasible and urgent’ truce in Ukraine (By Patrick Hudson, The Tablet)
