When a hierarch reaches the point of playing God in his mind, or even in his desire, it becomes a very dangerous weapon. Even if his intentions are good…
Pope Francis, whose entire trajectory so far shows a humble, measured visionary with empathy, took a step outside his “dominion.” And of course, he shook the waves.
His recent call to Ukrainians to raise the white flag, in other words, to surrender, to end the war in their country, “played directly into the hands of Russia,” as the English Telegraph wrote yesterday.
You could almost hear the sound of hands rubbing together with joy in the corridors of power in Moscow, it added.
According to the Pontiff, it’s time, he says, for Ukraine to “raise the white flag,” meaning to admit defeat in the war and start “peace talks” and negotiations with the Russians.
His unfortunate statement came in the context of an interview on Swiss television a month ago and was broadcast last weekend.
Of course, as the foreign press writes, this intervention (which I personally believe was made with good intentions) was like manna from heaven for Putin.
What’s even worse is that he didn’t just settle for a ceasefire proposal and the start of dialogue (which is not his job either), but he also made an unacceptable assessment: That Ukraine has no chance of winning and therefore it’s time to sit at the negotiating table.
“I believe that those who see the situation, think about the world, and have the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate are stronger,” said the 87-year-old pontiff.
The Ukrainians, of course, are furious. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kyiv summoned the Vatican’s ambassador to express its “disappointment” with the Pope’s statements. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister promised that his country would never capitulate.
Moscow, on the other hand, did not hide its joy from the words of the Pope of Rome. It immediately “seized” them and triumphantly declared that “here, Francis has understood what the West refuses to admit.”
Namely, “that the Ukrainians have no hope of causing a strategic defeat to Russia.”
When a people struggle for their freedom and dignity, having suffered a violent invasion from a powerful and ruthless neighbour, a truly spiritual person does not take sides, and certainly does not consider one side as “a lost cause.”
If someone said this, for example, to the Greeks who rose up in 1821 to gain their freedom from the Turks, and who militarily were inferior to their powerful adversary and they listened and raised the white flag because at certain stages of the struggle they were indeed losing, perhaps History would have taken a very unpleasant turn for Greece.
The war in Ukraine has been raging continuously for two years now. One country, Russia, invaded another, independent, Ukraine and has already conquered and annexed territories into its own territory, through dubious referendums.
We don’t know when or how this war will end. If there is negotiation and follow-up, that, again, is not the Pope’s job.
It will be decided by those involved. As has always been the case in such situations, when and if serious negotiations begin, neither side should come to the table, one with the syndrome of the triumphant and the other with the wound of the defeated…
