VATICAN CITY, May 20 (Reuters) – Pope Francis has asked Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, head of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, to carry out a peace mission to try to help end the war in Ukraine, the Vatican reported. Vatican on Saturday.
Francis first spoke cryptically of his intention to launch a mission while returning from a trip to Hungary last month, but gave no details.
According to a Vatican diplomatic source, the plan would be for Zuppi to try to meet separately with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Vatican said in a statement that Zuppi, 67, would carry out the mission, according to the Vatican Secretariat of State, “to help reduce the tensions of the conflict in Ukraine, with the hope, never abandoned by the Holy Father , that this can initiate peace processes”.
Returning from a trip to Hungary on April 30, Francis made a cryptic comment about the Vatican’s involvement in a mission to try to end the war.
“There is a mission in progress, but it has not been made public yet. When it is made public, I will reveal it,” he told reporters.
In Saturday’s statement, the Vatican said the schedule and details of the mission were still being worked out. (Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing in Spanish by Manuel Farías)
Source: Ambito
