Pope Francis recently met with a delegation from Ukraine and reiterated his desire to visit Kiev.
Information from Ukrainian religious news portal Risu says pain in the Pope’s right knee is the biggest obstacle to the journey.
According to its website, the meeting took place on June 8 and was facilitated by a friend of the Pope who led a delegation of Ukrainian Catholics to the Vatican.
During the meeting, visitors reportedly warned that the Ukrainian community interpreted some of Francis’s decisions and statements regarding the war in an “ambiguous” manner and asked the Pope to support the country’s candidacy for membership in the European Union.
In turn, Jorge Bergoglio would agree to the creation of an “unofficial” channel to communicate with the Ukrainian community, listing his actions in favor of the country, such as refusing to meet with the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. Cyril, a meeting scheduled for this month in Jerusalem.
In early June, Bergoglio said he planned to go to Ukraine “at the right time”, but in May the Papacy had already dismissed that possibility. In addition, Francis had said the previous month that he would only make this visit if it made a tangible contribution to peace.
“What good would it be if the Pope went to Kiev and the war continued the next day,” the Pope told La Nación newspaper in April. said. A few days later, Francis told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that he thought it best to go to Moscow first to meet with President Vladimir Putin.
Last Friday (10), Bergoglio postponed his trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, scheduled for July 2-7, due to knee pain. The Pope also has a planned visit to Canada at the end of the same month.
“It’s not that easy to go on duty at my age,” the Pope said at a meeting with African missionaries this Monday (13).
source: Noticias
[author_name]
