Papst Leo ruft zum Schweigen der Waffen in der Ukraine auf und lobt den Waffenstillstand im Libanon

The weapons will „fall silent“ once Russia is defeated and is unable to continue its war of genocidal aggression against the Ukrainian people. That will only happen if the Ukrainian people are given the weapons and tools needed to defend both their lives and their democracy against Russia’s imperialist project.

I remember when the war that has been ongoing since 2014 took a turn for the absolute worst when Russia dropped the mask of supporting the fake vassal states that were the LPR and DPR and began their full scale invasion back in 2022. Back then, Pope Francis initially avoided specific criticism of Russia and President Putin. Even after he later described Ukraine as „martyred“ and prayed for the victims of Russian aggression, he still did not directly criticize Putin or the Russian government when they are the ones responsible for said aggression. Notably, he dared to „warn“ against what he called a „simplistic good versus evil perception of the conflict“, saying that a world leader who he did not name told him that NATO was „barking at the gates“ of Russia, which led him to believe that the conflict was „somehow either provoked or not prevented.“

Brother, what the actual hell? That is Russian propaganda. Russia was not „provoked.“ This was Vladimir Putin’s war of choice, and the Russian „people“ went along with it, not at all caring that their government was murdering and kidnapping Ukrainian children. Was Russia „provoked“ to illegally annex Ukrainian sovereign territory back in 2014? It’s just actual bullshit that the Vatican has had years to see the truth and yet couldn’t bring themselves to admit a very basic simple fact right after the full scale invasion began. That it is in fact a moral obligation to give Ukraine the weapons and tools they need to actually win the war and to protect themselves afterwards. It took Pope Francis over seven months to finally be forced to admit that arms transfers to Ukraine were a good thing. And even then, it was a tepid statement. He said that the decision of other nations to supply arms to Ukraine was a „political calculation“ that „may“ be morally acceptable, under the right conditions. Not sure what that „may“ is for. It just „is“ acceptable. And it’s not just a „political calculation.“ It’s just plainly the right thing do to.

Anyways, I’m hoping beyond hope that Pope Leo XIV is just a little bit more clear-eyed and can accept the reality that Ukrainian people need to be given everything they need to protect themselves. But based on the Holy See’s past actions, I don’t think I can set my expectations especially high.