The Vatican is no longer information-savvy enough to analyze a war like the one currently unfolding on Ukrainian soil.. This explains the ambiguity of the Pope in this matter.. This opinion regarding the public attitude of prominent religious figures to the Kremlin's war against Ukraine was expressed by political scientist Francois Mabil in an interview with Le Monde.

Francis' position on the war in Ukraine is not easy to interpret. On the one hand, he demonstrates his support for “war-torn Ukraine”, the victim of “barbaric and blasphemous actions”, on the other hand, he condemns “NATO barking” on the border with Russia and refuses to unambiguously identify the aggressor. Francois Mabil - Director of the Geopolitical Religious Observatory of the Institute of International and Strategic Relations. He edited the book La Longue Transition du catholicisme. Government and Influence (Editions du Cygne, 2014) and is the author of The Catholics and the World in the Cold War (L'Harmattan, 2004).

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" In accordance with his encyclical Fratelli tutti (2020), Francis has long stated that he is hostile to any use of weapons (whether by Ukraine or by Russia). Paragraph 258 critically questions the very notion of " Diplomacy of the Holy See regarding Ukraine can be described as "

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In addition, the position of the Pope is based on the interests of the Holy See.. Of course there is a will to achieve peace. But there is also a desire to maintain good relations with the Kremlin in view of, for example, a possible trip to Russia, and, in addition, to maintain satisfactory relations with the Moscow Patriarch Kirill. It seems to me that the position of the Pope is directly related to this important issue of Vatican policy."

In this position, Mabil believes, there is some development if you look at the last few weeks.. In particular, we are talking about one of the recent statements by Bishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary of the Vatican in relations with other states. He said in mid-May on Italian television that " But the Vatican at the same time refused to put up with the supply of weapons to Ukraine.

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" For example, when the pope condemned nationalism in early April, this could often be perceived by the Russian side as a designation of Ukrainian nationalism.. Perhaps this did not happen by his will, but the vagueness of the statements allowed such? interpretation and was criticized by many Ukrainians,"

Recall that this month the Pope met with the wives of the defenders of Mariupol Ekaterina Prokopenko and Yulia Fedosyuk. Earlier, Ukrainian women wrote him a letter and received an invitation to come to the Vatican.