Catholic leader Pope Francis says Ukraine must negotiate with Russia, which has seized most of its territory. This was not the 87-year-old’s first statement during the invasion of Moscow.
This time, Pope Francis used the phrase white flag to emphasize the encouragement of negotiations on Ukraine with Russia. The reason is that the white flag is a sign of courage to end the war, welcome peace and does not mean giving in.
“I believe that the strongest are those who look at the situation, think regarding their people, and have the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate,” Pope Francis said in an interview the Vatican said was conducted in early February.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba condemned the remarks from the Pope’s interview with Swiss television station RTS.
“Our flag is yellow and blue. This is the flag by which we live, die, and win. We will never fly another flag,” he said.
In a sign of how angry Kyiv was, Ukrainian officials compared the remarks to some Catholic churches collaborating with Nazi Germany in World War II.
Also read: Zelensky meets Pope Francis
“At the same time, when it comes to the white flag, we know this Vatican strategy from the first half of the 20th century,” Kuleba said.
He called on the Holy See to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. The same thing was also expressed by the Ukrainian Ambassador to the Vatican, Andrii Yurash.
He compared the Pope’s suggestion to that of German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. “The only lesson is that if we want to end the war, we must do everything to kill the Dragon!,” he said on social media.
Read also: Vatican Wants to Reconcile Russia with Ukraine
After the interview was broadcast, Pope Francis offered fresh prayers for the Ukrainian martyrs. Vatican officials said the call was only intended to end the fierce fighting.
The Vatican also issued a statement confirming that the Pope’s use of the phrase white flag was a sign of widespread surrender on the battlefield. It was intended for a cessation of hostilities, a ceasefire achieved by courageous negotiations.
But the Pope’s words were widely understood as a call for surrender and were condemned by some Western diplomats.
Also read: Pope’s prayer for Ukraine, Israel-Palestine and Rohingya
“Russia is the aggressor and violates international law! “Therefore Germany asks Moscow to stop the war, not Kyiv!” said Bernhard Kotsch, Germany’s envoy to the Vatican.
Kuleba said Kyiv hopes Pope Francis will visit his war-torn country following more than two years of war.
“We continue to hope that following two years of devastating war in the heart of Europe, the Pope will find an opportunity to make an Apostolic visit to Ukraine in support of the more than one million Catholics in Ukraine, the more than five million Greek Catholics and all Ukrainians,” Kuleba said.
Also read: Pope calls Russia aggression and imperialism in Ukraine
Pope Francis drew criticism in the first months following Russia’s invasion in February 2022 for failing to label Moscow as the aggressor. He also criticized Ukraine last year when he allegedly praised Russian imperial leaders Peter the Great and Catherine II.
The pope has also sparked outrage in Russia, when he said in the winter of 2022 that the most violent forces in Ukraine were not those of the Russian tradition, but minorities such as Chechens, Buryati and so on.
The Vatican later officially apologized to Moscow. Last year, Pope Francis appointed a top cardinal to try to broker peace in Ukraine who has visited Moscow, Kyiv, Washington and Beijing. (AFP/Z-3)
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