VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Addressing the war in Ukraine, which has cost both sides an estimated 500,000 lives in the two years since Russia’s invasion, Pope Francis urged Ukrainian leaders to have the “courage of the white flag and to negotiate” before things get worse.
The pope’s words, which came in an interview with the Swiss broadcaster RSI that aired Saturday (March 9), were met with anger and outrage by Ukrainian political and religious leaders while the Vatican scrambled to clarify the comments.
Since the beginning of the conflict, the pope and the Vatican have vigorously called for peace in the conflict while offering to help mediate between the two sides. The pontiff’s neutral stance has irked many leaders in Europe who see Russia’s belligerence as a moral matter as much as a military one.
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In the interview, journalist Lorenzo Buccella asked the pope whether surrendering in a conflict is equivalent with giving in to a logic where power is might and only the strongest win.
“The strongest one is he who looks at the situation, thinks of the people and has the courage of the white flag and to negotiate, with the help of international organizations,” Francis answered. He added that “negotiation is a courageous word,” and despite feelings of “shame” it’s essential “to negotiate in time.”
The 87-year-old pontiff seemed to say that the burden of negotiation rested with any country that could bring peace. “Today, for example, with the war in Ukraine there are many who wish to act as a mediator. Turkey for example. Don’t be ashamed to negotiate, before things get worse,” the pope said.
Pope Francis reads his message during the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, March 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to the pope’s remarks by thanking the chaplains who stand by the Ukrainian people through dialogue, prayer and action.
“This is what the church does: it stays close to people, not somewhere 2,500 kilometers away, virtually mediating between those who want to live and those who want to destroy you,” Zelenskyy said, adding that Ukrainian soldiers defend the West “under a blue and yellow flag.”
Kyiv’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, stated that Ukraine “will never raise other flags” and invited the pope to visit the battle-torn city in support of its Christian population. The Ukrainian embassy to the Holy See used harsher terms, urging the pope to “be coherent!” in his approach to a Third World War, which Francis has often warned against.