Polish bishops condemn attack against Ukraine

Letter presses Russian Orthodox patriarch

FILE - Pope Francis, left, embraces Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill after signing a joint declaration on religious unity in Havana, Cuba on Feb. 12, 2016. The head of the Polish bishops’ conference had done what Pope Francis has so far avoided doing by publicly condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki also publicly urged the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to use his influence on Vladimir Putin to demand an end to the war and for Russian soldiers to stand down. “The time will come to settle these crimes, including before the international courts," Gadecki warned in his March 2 letter to Patriarch Kirill. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, Pool)
FILE - Pope Francis, left, embraces Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill after signing a joint declaration on religious unity in Havana, Cuba on Feb. 12, 2016. The head of the Polish bishops’ conference had done what Pope Francis has so far avoided doing by publicly condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki also publicly urged the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to use his influence on Vladimir Putin to demand an end to the war and for Russian soldiers to stand down. “The time will come to settle these crimes, including before the international courts," Gadecki warned in his March 2 letter to Patriarch Kirill. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, Pool)

ROME -- The head of the Polish bishops' conference has publicly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and urged the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to use his influence with Vladimir Putin to demand an end to the war and for Russian soldiers to stand down.

"The time will come to settle these crimes, including before the international courts," Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki warned in his March 2 letter to Patriarch Kirill. "However, even if someone manages to avoid this human justice, there is a tribunal that cannot be avoided."

The Holy See has called for peace, humanitarian corridors, a cease-fire and a return to negotiations, and even offered itself as a mediator. But Francis has not publicly condemned Russia by name for its invasion or publicly appeal to Kirill.

For a pope who has declared the mere possession of nuclear weapons immoral and cautioned against using atomic energy because of the environmental threat posed by radiation leaks, the silence was even more notable.

The Vatican has a tradition of quiet diplomacy and has long used that argument to defend Pope Pius XII, the World War II-era pope criticized by some Jewish groups for not speaking out enough against the Holocaust. The Vatican says quiet diplomacy helped save lives then, and it continued that tradition in its Cold War Ostpolitik policy of behind-the-scenes diplomacy.

Francis recently went to the Russian Embassy to the Holy See to meet with the ambassador. But the only thing the Vatican said about the meeting was that Francis went to "express his concern about the war." He also spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Ukraine counts a few million Catholics among its majority Orthodox population, and Francis has talked of hopes to improve relations with the Russian Orthodox Church and its leader, Kirill. As recently as December, when fears of a Russian invasion were already tangible, Francis expressed hope for a second meeting with Kirill after their historic encounter in 2016, the first between a pope and Russian patriarch in a millennium.

"A meeting with Patriarch Kirill is not far from the horizon," Francis told reporters. "I am always available, I am also willing to go to Moscow: to talk to a brother, there is no need for protocols. A brother is a brother before all protocols."

Francis' ambassador to Russia, Archbishop Giovanni D'Agnello, met Thursday with Kirill at the patriarch's residence in the Danilov Monastery in Moscow. Kirill's office said the patriarch recalled the "new page in history" opened by the 2016 meeting, expressed appreciation for the "moderate and wise position" of the Holy See in resisting being drawn into the conflict and insisted churches can only be peacemakers.

One of Francis' top communications advisers, the Rev. Antonio Spadaro, however, noted Kirill is "facing a great challenge" to weigh the now-growing list of Orthodox priests, metropolitans and ordinary Ukrainian faithful who are begging him to raise his voice against Putin and change position.

The Holy See's ambassador to the United Nations stressed the need for humanitarian corridors in Ukraine to allow refugees out and humanitarian aid in.

The Holy See's foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, met Wednesday with his Italian counterpart, Luigi Di Maio. The Italian Foreign Ministry said Di Maio "repeated Italy's firm condemnation of the Russian aggression to the detriment of Ukraine and the commitment to continue on the path of effective and incisive sanctions against the government of the Russian Federation," while helping Ukraine in the "humanitarian, economic and defense areas."

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