With a misleading appeal for peace negotiations in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Pope Francis has sparked massive opposition. The statements by the head of the Catholic Church were understood in Ukraine and by many of her supporters as a one-sided appeal to Kiev alone – and by some even as a call for surrender.
In an interview published on Swiss television at the weekend, the 87-year-old also used the word about the “white flag” – in times of war for centuries, the sign of surrender, i.e. surrender without a fight against the enemy troops, with a view to the difficulties faced by the Ukrainian army.
“When you see that you are defeated, that things are not going well, you have to have the courage to negotiate,” said Francis in the interview, which was conducted at the beginning of February but has only now become known. Without naming either of the parties to the conflict, Russia or Ukraine, he added: “Don’t be ashamed to negotiate before things get worse.” Nevertheless, this was often understood as a reference, especially to Ukraine. Elsewhere in the interview, the leader of more than 1.4 billion Catholics said: “Negotiations are never a surrender.”
A misunderstanding?
Pope spokesman Matteo Bruni contradicted reports that the pontiff had called on Ukraine to surrender. Francis himself did not address the controversy in his Sunday prayers in St. Peter’s Square. He called for general prayers for peace in “tormented Ukraine” and the Holy Land. He added: “End hostilities that are causing untold suffering among civilians.” However, from the Argentine-born’s earlier statements, Ukrainians have the feeling that Francis has more understanding for Russia than for them.
His answer to the question of whether it sometimes takes courage to raise the white flag was met with incomprehension – the wording came from the interviewer. The Pope replied: “It is a question of perspective. But I think that the stronger is the one who recognizes the situation, who thinks about the people, who has the courage of the white flag to negotiate.” The conversation was recorded for a cultural program that basically deals with the color white – including, for example, why the Pope wears white. It is scheduled to air on March 20th.
Zelensky rejects appeal
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sharply rejected Pope Francis’ call for peace negotiations with Russia. The church is with the people, said Zelenskyj in his evening video address. “And not two and a half thousand kilometers away, somewhere, to virtually mediate between someone who wants to live and someone who wants to destroy you.”
“When Russian evil started this war on February 24, all Ukrainians stood up to defend themselves. Christians, Muslims, Jews – everyone,” Zelensky said. And he thanks every Ukrainian clergyman who is in the army, in the Defense Forces. They are on the front line, they protect life and humanity, they support with prayers, conversations and actions. “That’s what the church is – with the people.”
“Our flag is yellow and blue. This is the flag with which we live, die and persevere. We will never raise another flag,” wrote Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on X. He thanked the Pope for his prayers two years of war and invited him to visit Ukraine.
Baerbock: “I don’t understand it”
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock reacted dumbfounded to the Pope’s appeal. “I really wonder what he was thinking,” said the Green politician on Sunday evening on the ARD program “Caren Miosga”. “I dont understand.” Baerbock was of the opinion that you can only understand some things if you see them yourself. When you see how a kindergarten in Ukraine is attacked, how children and young people are kidnapped by Russians. “I ask myself: Where is the Pope? The Pope must know about this.”
Baerbock demanded that you have to have the courage to stand by the people of Ukraine and do everything for Ukraine so that it can defend itself. If there was a minimal chance that the Russian regime would show a willingness to talk, “then the whole world would be there and talk. Unfortunately, we see the opposite every day.”
In Poland, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski criticized the call. “To compensate, how about encouraging (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to have the courage to withdraw his army from Ukraine? Then peace would come immediately, without the need for negotiations,” Sikorski wrote on X. Poland is one of Ukraine’s most committed political and military supporters.
Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt also contradicted the Pope. “Nobody wants peace more than Ukraine,” said the Green politician to the Germany editorial network. Putin can end war and suffering immediately – not Ukraine. “Anyone who demands that Ukraine simply surrender is giving the aggressor what he has illegally taken and thereby accepting the annihilation of Ukraine.” The FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann called on the Pope to condemn the “verbal murderous incitement” of the Orthodox Moscow Patriarch Kirill against the Ukrainians. “As a Catholic, I’m ashamed that he doesn’t do that.”
