On the war in Ukraine, Leone puts the Secretariat of State back in the spotlight with its time-honoured diplomacy

As the visit to Russia by the Holy See’s representative for relations with states, Monsignor Paul Richard Gallagher, draws to a close, it is already clear that the significance of his mission extends far beyond yet another attempt by Rome to foster dialogue between the warring parties. The key aspect of this development is that the meeting with Sergei Lavrov and, subsequently, with Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, once again brings the role of the Vatican Secretariat of State – and, by extension, its diplomacy – to the fore.

Francis had upstaged him, first by making a surprise personal visit to the Russian embassy just a few hours after the attack ordered by the Kremlin, and then by taking credit for a mediation effort that proved unworkable from the outset, for political and religious reasons (the Moscow Patriarchate could never have accepted the Pope of Rome as a mediator). At the same time, he made comments about ‘NATO barking at Russia’s borders’, the courage of the white flag ‘when you realise you have been defeated’, and Kirill as ‘Putin’s altar boy’: not exactly helpful to the already complicated work of Vatican diplomacy, which traditionally operates behind the scenes, speaking little and rarely in public. In addition, the Pope dispatched Cardinal Matteo Zuppi as his envoy to the world’s capitals; he was considered the right person for the job given his effective role in resolving the conflict in Mozambique in the early 1990s. The Archbishop of Bologna travelled to Kyiv and Moscow, as well as to Beijing and Washington. Meanwhile, the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin – a career diplomat – remained in Rome. It must be said that from the very outset, Cardinal Zuppi’s mission had been announced as ‘humanitarian’, relating above all to the search for an agreement to facilitate the exchange of prisoners and, above all, the family reunification of Ukrainian children. However, when one travels to the world’s major capitals that have a say in the ongoing conflict, the mission inevitably takes on diplomatic overtones.

Now, with the new papacy, the arrangements have changed: Zuppi remains the correspondent (he will return to Moscow at the end of September), but the purely political and diplomatic aspects are once again the responsibility of the Secretariat of State. Proof of this is, in fact, Monsignor Gallagher’s first visit in the last five years, which follows his trip to Ukraine at the start of the summer. It is significant that it is precisely this British diplomat who is leading the meetings with senior Russian and Ukrainian officials: he has always been the Curial figure who has most vigorously defended Kyiv’s cause, even when the Vatican preferred a more nuanced approach. And it was he who, a month and a half ago, not only reiterated the desire to see Ukraine admitted to the European Union soon, but also opposed any plan that might undermine the ‘territorial integrity’ of the country under attack by Putin. It is not too far-fetched, then, to see the hand of Leo XIV in this: that Cardinal Prevost was entirely on the side of the victims was made clear in an interview he gave, when he stated unequivocally that “it has already been proven that crimes against humanity are being committed”. However, as we know, the white cassock entails greater responsibilities, and it is not a given that what is said as a cardinal will be repeated as a pope. And yet, Leo has met with Zelenskyy more than any other international leader, and just a few days ago, on the occasion of Ukraine’s Independence Day, he wrote in his telegram that “your country’s national holiday offers me the opportunity to assure you of my prayers for your people, who have been so severely affected by the war and its consequences”. The gift of clarity.