ROME — Pope Francis called for an end to wars and disputes Monday, underscoring the need for “reconciliation” between adversaries.
“May the grace of the Risen Lord give comfort and hope to all those who are suffering: may no one be abandoned!” the pontiff urged following the Easter Regina Caeli prayer in Saint Peter’s Square. “May quarrels, wars and disputes give way to understanding and reconciliation.”
“Underscore this word always: reconciliation, because what Jesus did on Calvary and with His resurrection is to reconcile us all with the Father, with God and with each other. Reconciliation,” the pope repeated.
“God has won the decisive battle against the spirit of evil: let Him win! Let us renounce our human plans, let us be converted to his plans for peace and justice,” he concluded.
The pope’s emphasis on “reconciliation” between Russia and Ukraine has drawn criticism from Ukrainian leaders who insist that reconciliation can only happen once Russian aggression ceases.
Last week, Ukrainian Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk criticized “Vatican dreamers” for seeking a premature reconciliation between the two nations while military aggression continues.
“To be reconciled, one must at least be alive,” Archbishop Shevchuk said in an interview on Radio Ukraine last Friday.
People wait the arrival of Pope Francis during the Pilgrimage of Italian teenagers on April 18, 2022 . In St.Peter’s square at the Vatican. (ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)
The archbishop’s comments were a reaction to a decision by the Vatican to have a Russian and a Ukrainian woman carry the cross together during the annual Way of the Cross in Rome’s Colosseum.
This year, “some of those Vatican dreamers who dream of peace between nations, brotherhood, and unity came up with the idea of making gestures of reconciliation between Russians and Ukrainians along the Way of the Cross,” Shevchuk noted.
“When we are all expecting another offensive by Russian troops on Ukraine, such gestures are in principle impossible,” Shevchuk said. “After all, to be reconciled, you must at least be alive.”
The archbishop contended that the next step should be “to convict the offender and establish justice,” by which all “crimes against Ukraine must be convicted by an international tribunal.”
A child waits the arrival of Pope Francis during the Pilgrimage of Italian teenagers in St.Peter’s square at the Vatican, on April 18, 2022. (ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)
“Only after the conviction of the Russian aggressor can there be the beginning of a process of reconciliation, and it will be a long road,” he stated. “Because the process of reconciliation means healing the wound, it is respect for the victim’s wounds.”
Shevchuk noted that it was the pope’s apostolic nuncio (ambassador) to Ukraine, Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, who first criticized the Vatican’s attempt at “coercing peace.”
“He was the first to inform the Holy See that Ukrainians are experiencing these premature reconciliation projects with pain,” Shevchuk said.
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