The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Francis commissioned Cardinal Matteo Zuppi to carry out a peace mission to Ukraine and initiate a path towards peace.
The cardinal is the current president of the Italian Bishops' Conference. He has diplomatic experience, having helped lead the Mozambique peace process in the 1990s.
CARDINAL MATTEO ZUPPI
Archbishop of Bologna, Italy
How did we do it? First, we sought to understand who the stakeholders were for the different sides. With the government it was clear, although it was evident that even within the government, there were different positions. Then there was the Mozambican National Resistance, a small guerrilla group that the government classified as armed bandits, thus stripping them of all political legitimacy.
The Vatican also noted that although the Pope commissioned Cardinal Zuppi to carry out this peace mission, there are still many aspects under review for this operation.
The mission was announced by Pope Francis on his return flight from Hungary. He stated that the Vatican was carrying out a peace mission to end conflict in Ukraine but gave no further details.
POPE FRANCIS
There is a mission going on now, but it is not yet public. Let's see how... When it becomes public, I will speak about it.
Weeks later, the Ukrainian President visited Pope Francis, but neither of them said publicly whether this visit was related to the peace mission. During the meeting, the Ukrainian President Zelensky asked Pope Francis to join his 10-point peace plan. It is a plan that has already been rejected by Russia, so if the Pope were to accept, it could complicate Vatican-Moscow relations.
PA/JRB
TR: AT
