Finally\u2026 It\u2019s official. Because Pope Francis said it himself: he is not going to visit Ukraine. At least not yet. But he is going to Kazakhstan. Actually he\u2019s going there next week.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t feel bad if you can\u2019t immediately put your finger on exactly where Kazakhstan lies on the map. Neither can I. That\u2019s why our Rome Reports editors have provided this graphic to help us out\u2026 <\/p>\n
It\u2019s big, isn\u2019t it? Actually Kazakhstan is the world\u2019s 9th largest country \u2013 equivalent in size to the whole of Western Europe put together.<\/p>\n
Which is not the reason the Pope is going there, of course. He going there to attend an interfaith conference, officially called: \u201cThe VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions\u201d. According to the program, the 3-day visit will allow the Pope the opportunity to have, what the Vatican calls, \u201cprivate meetings with various religious leaders at the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeace and Reconciliation\u201d\u2026 The name of the venue is already a program in itself. Unfortunately, who exactly those \u201creligious leaders\u201d are is still not clear.<\/p>\n
What is clear is that Pope Francis will most likely use the occasion to reiterate a message that\u2019s particularly close to his heart: namely, that no religion should ever be used to justify violence of any kind \u2013 especially war.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s already been noted how the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, will not be attending the interreligious summit. The Patriarch has consistently supported Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, and Pope Francis had hoped to meet him in Kazakhstan to discuss possible peaceful solutions to the war \u2013 which is already into its seventh month, and continues to wreak death and destruction.<\/p>\n
POPE FRANCIS So, if Pope Francis is ready to pack his bags and travel to Central Asia for an interfaith conference in Kazakhstan, what\u2019s stopping him from simply visiting Ukraine on his way there, or on his way back?<\/p>\n Because nothing is ever as simple as it seems. And papal trips are anything but simple. If Pope Francis did visit Ukraine, where would he go and what would he do? Who would guarantee his safety? Would Russia ensure him a safe passage? Would his presence only put, what he has called \u201chigher objectives\u201d at risk? Those objectives being, of course, either a truce, or an end to the war. <\/p>\n Garnering the support of other religious leaders in support of those objectives is clearly Pope Francis\u2019 primary motivation in travelling to Kazakhstan next week \u2013 despite his 85 years of age, and despite his having to use a wheelchair.<\/p>\n What\u2019s also clear, but not always obvious, is that even while the Pope is away, the silent and experienced wheels of Vatican diplomacy continue to turn \u2013 and that hoped-for visit to Ukraine may be closer than we think. <\/p>\n If you found this program useful, you may want to know that we offer \u201cVatican Confidential\u201d in advance to subscribers of Rome Reports Premium. Not only do you receive it before anyone else, but you help support our mission of providing journalism that is credible, dependable, reliable, and relatable. <\/p>\n So, thank you in advance. We wouldn\u2019t be here without your help. <\/p>\n Go to www.romereports.tv to find out more. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" September 09, 2022. Finally\u2026 It\u2019s official. Because Pope Francis said it himself: he is not going to visit Ukraine. At least not yet. But he is going to Kazakhstan. Actually he\u2019s going there next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":43491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"acf":{"video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/1_vPOGiK870","video_descarga":"http:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/CONFIDENCIAL PAPA NO UCRAINA ENG_COMMERCIAL.mp4","international_url":"http:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/CONFIDENCIAL PAPA NO UCRAINA ENG_COMMERCIAL.mp4","type":"bn","newsletter":"si"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43490"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>'The world needs peace. Not a peace based on how many weapons each side has, or on fear of one another. No. This isn\u2019t going to happen. This means turning back the pages of history 70 years'.<\/em><\/p>\n