THE NEW YORK TIMES: Pope Leo XIV said that while popes can be advocates for peace, it was less “realistic” for them to serve as mediators.
Despite some early media chatter about the pope helping broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, the Vatican is unlikely to act as a mediator in the search for a peace deal, Pope Leo XIV said in excerpts from an interview published Sunday.
“I’d make a distinction in terms of the voice of the Holy See in advocating for peace and a role as mediator, which I think is very different and is not as realistic as the first one,” Leo said in the interview, parts of which were published in Crux, a Catholic news outlet.
The pope, who was elected as the first pontiff from the United States in May, said the Vatican was making “great efforts to maintain a position” that did not take “one side or the other" but was “truly neutral.”
“Some things I’ve said have been interpreted in one way or the other, and that’s all right, but I think that the realistic part of it is not primary right now,” he said in the interview with Elise Ann Allen, senior correspondent for Crux. » | Motoko Rich | Reporting from Rome | Sunday, September 14, 2025
This is strange! Why should the Vatican remain “neutral” in this? Ukraine was attacked by Russia. So, clearly we know which side caused this war. Neutrality shouldn’t come into it. — © Mark Alexander
