The Vatican seems to be distancing itself from the United States and will not participate in Trump’s Peace Board—a U.S.-led initiative that seeks the reconstruction of Gaza in the post-war period.
The Holy See’s top diplomat, Cardinal Parolin, announced in January that the pope had received the invitation and that the Vatican would consider how to respond.
Almost a month later, Parolin has announced the decision: the Holy See will not join the board of peace, and for two reasons. First, because of the particular nature of the Holy See as an essentially religious entity.
Parolin has already stated that the Vatican would not be in a position to make the requested contribution—1 billion euros to secure a seat on the permanent council. According to Trump, countries are nonetheless contributing a lot of money.
DONALD TRUMP
President of the United States
We're going to have all world leaders. They're putting up tremendous amounts of money and I think it's going to go far beyond Gaza and I think it'll be peace all over the world.
Which leads to the second point that doesn’t sit well with the Vatican. At first, the Peace Board was designed solely to focus on Gaza. But it seems that Trump is trying to compete with the UN, creating a sort of alternative organization.
Obviously, there are points that leave one a bit puzzled. There are some critical issues that would need explanations.[…]
One concern is that, at the international level, it is primarily the UN that manages these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have insisted.
Shortly after Parolin’s statement, Trump held a press conference on Air Force One. When asked about the UN, the U.S. president stated he still believes that the multi-national organization has not done a sufficient job.
DONALD TRUMP
President of the United States
And we're working in conjunction with the United Nations. If the UN is there they haven't lived up to potential. United Nations has great potential but I think they might hate us a little bit but we have the greatest leaders in the world joining the Board of Peace and we'll be doing it in conjunction with, in some cases, the UN and see if we can get the UN to get on the ball.
There are still questions about how the Peace Board, chaired by Trump, will operate. More than 60 countries were invited, and at least 35 have accepted, including Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Israel.
In addition to the Vatican, France and Spain will also not join the board. Italy, meanwhile, will participate as an observer state. The Meloni government wanted to take part, but its constitution does not allow it.
Article 11 of the Italian constitutions states that they cannot cede sovereignty, meaning they cannot share equal power with other countries—membership in the board would apparently jeopardize this sovereignty.
