How Pope Francis’ tone on the Ukraine war has shifted

Pope Francis’ Angelus address on Sunday marked a substantial change of pace in the diplomatic action of the Holy See concerning the Ukraine conflict.

The pope stressed that in Ukraine, “there is no military operation, but a war which sows death, destruction, and misery.” He thanked journalists “who put their lives at risk to provide information,” saying that their service “allows us to be close to the tragedy of that population and enables us to assess the cruelty of a war.”

He also announced that he was sending two cardinals to Ukraine to bring his presence among refugees, displaced people, and others in need.

The appeal at the end of the Angelus was constructed in such a way as to answer many of the questions that have emerged in recent days.

First, by saying that the conflict is not a simple “military operation,” Pope Francis effectively denied the Russian narrative, which not only avoids the word “war” but goes as far as punishing journalists who use the term with jail.

A law approved by the Duma, the Russian parliament, threatens those who spread “fake news” with 15 years in prison, including those who speak of “war” or “aggression against Ukraine” and not of a special military operation. The law is why some of the most important international newspapers have withdrawn their correspondents from Moscow.

Thus, the pope’s praise of journalists’ courage suggested a clear stance against this development, though some observers argued that his words did not relate to journalists in Russia but only those reporting on the war from Ukraine.

The media have noted that since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, the pope has never used the words “Russia” or “aggression” in his public statements. But this is perhaps a marginal issue that should not make us lose sight of the fact that, with his Angelus address of March 6, Pope Francis made a substantial change to the diplomatic line that the Holy See has held up to now.

Suffice it to recall that on Feb. 24, in a completely unusual way, the pope visited the Russian Federation’s embassy to the Holy See to show his concern at the conflict and call for the humanitarian crisis to be addressed, according to the Russian ambassador to the Holy See, Aleksandr Avdeev.

It was striking that the pope did not call the ambassador to the Vatican, as is the norm for a head of state. Summoning the ambassador, however, could also have turned out to be too strong a signal, and the pope may have wanted to show his pastoral concern by making the trip to the embassy.

The Vatican has not, however, explained why Pope Francis did not also visit the Ukrainian embassy to the Holy See, currently led by a lower-ranking official. At the time, the elected ambassador, Andriy Yurash, remained in Ukraine because of the war (he hasn’t had the opportunity to present his credential letters to the pope.)

The visit was then rebalanced by two papal phone calls: one to Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk on Feb. 25 and another to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a day later. But the impression of unbalanced attention to Russia remained.

Still, the pope’s choice was a sign of a precise diplomatic decision. From the start of his pontificate in 2013, he has wanted to keep open a channel of dialogue with Russia. Not surprisingly, President Vladimir Putin has been received by Pope Francis three times, in 2013, 2015, and 2019.