The Vatican takes part in a secret peacekeeping mission, using its capabilities to end the war in Ukraine. Pope Francis told reporters about this after his visit to Budapest.
“The mission is now in progress, but it is not yet public. When it becomes public, I will reveal it,” he said.
During his trip to Hungary, the Pope met with the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion, and Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
He called for an “open door” policy. Given that the Orbán government has long been criticized for its anti-immigration policies, the Pope’s message is particularly timely. Speaking at mass in front of a huge number of people in the center of Budapest, the Pontifex directly stated the need to receive those who need it.
“How sad and painful to see closed doors. Doors of our indifference to the disadvantaged and suffering. Doors that we close in front of those who are alien to us or unlike us, in front of migrants or the poor,” said the Pope. And he called for “opening these doors” and becoming inclusive.
Speaking with journalists about the secret mission of the Vatican, the Pontifex also specified that it is now, among other things, the return of Ukrainian children who were illegally taken to Russia.
The day before, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) supported a resolution on the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia and considered this fact signs of genocide. The PACE resolution contains a clause on creating conditions for the safe return of children, stopping these crimes and punishing those responsible. The organization called on Russia to immediately and unconditionally stop the forced displacement and deportation of Ukrainian children, as well as to allow representatives of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit already displaced children.
At the same time, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is collecting evidence in the case of the deportation of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation. Currently, the SBU is investigating more than 31,000 criminal proceedings relating to Russian military and other crimes committed in Ukraine. And among them – more than 16 thousand facts of illegal transfer of Ukrainian children to the territory of the aggressor country.
