After the words of Pope Francis on Ukraine and the courage of the "white flag" which caused controversy and reactions from chancelleries around the world, come the words of the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin : «The appeal of the Pontiff – explains to Corriere.it – is that the conditions are created for a diplomatic solution in search of a just and lasting peace. In this sense it is obvious that the creation of such conditions is not just up to one of the parties, but rather to both, and the first condition seems to me to be precisely that of putting an end to the aggression".
The intervention comes after yesterday evening when Kiev announced that it had summoned the nuncio for clarifications while even the German chancellor Olaf Scholz , received by Francis about ten days ago, said he did not share Bergoglio's appeal to what is appeared to international observers almost like a call to surrender towards Moscow.
«We must never forget the context - specifies Parolin - and, in this case, the question that was addressed to the Pope, who, in response, spoke about negotiation and, in particular, about the courage of negotiation, which is not never a surrender . The Holy See pursues this line and continues to ask for a "ceasefire", and the ceasefire should first of all be the aggressors , and then the opening of negotiations. The Pope explains that negotiating is not weakness, but strength . It's not surrender, but it's courage. And it tells us that we must have greater consideration for human life, for the hundreds of thousands of human lives that have been sacrificed in this war in the heart of Europe. These are words that apply to Ukraine as well as to the Holy Land and to the other conflicts that are bloodying the world."
