Continuous line in the Church
by Alba Arcuri
Ua day of fasting and prayer for peace proclaimed by the Pope for Ash Wednesday... It happened in 2003, on March 5, when the war in Iraq was upon us and John Paul II sat on the papal throne. It was repeated this year, with Pope Francis, the March 2, that is a few days after the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
The Pope changes, the Church's attitude of condemnation towards war does not change. Not a "principled" pacifism with an ideological and somewhat utopian flavor. But a request for peace that is based on the foundations and principles that regulate the life of the Church. The first foundation is that Christ is our peace. And then, that truth, justice, love and freedom are the pillars on which the Church's action in the world rests (as described in the Encyclical Pacem in Terris of John XXIII), and these are intertwined with international law which repudiates war as an offensive weapon.
There is an unsurprising continuity in the attitude of the Popes, especially from the tragic years of the First and Second World Wars up to the present day. Starting from Benedict XV (who defined the First World War as a "useless massacre"), passing through Pius «Jamais plus la guerre! Never again the war of Paul VI and his successors. Based on this premise we can read the Holy Father's commitment to stopping "the hand of Cain", the horror of the war in Ukraine.
The hand of Cain
«Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, we implore you! Stay the hand of Cain! Enlighten our conscience (…) And when you have stopped Cain's hand, take care of him too. He is our brother." This is Francis' plea on March 16th at the General Audience. «Why on earth did the Pope not name any names, he didn't say who Cain is?», Many will have asked themselves. But words have weight and the Pope's objective is not to establish who is on the right side of history and who is on the wrong side (to use an expression of American President Biden), but to stop the weapons as soon as possible, to avoid further bloodshed. And to do this we need to keep the window of diplomatic negotiations open.
The Orthodox Church in Russia
Keeping a channel of dialogue open with the Russian Orthodox Church, led by Patriarch Kirill I, is one of the objectives of the Holy See. The patriarchate of Moscow (over 40% of Russians belong to it) has always been very close to Putin. He shares its anti-Western spirit and defense of traditional values. Kirill never openly attacked Putin, never said the word "war", but spoke of an "outbreak of hostilities". The Holy See, in any case, does not give up dialogue with the Patriarchate of Moscow to achieve peace. On March 3, there was a meeting in Moscow between Kirill and the apostolic nuncio Giovanni D'Aniello. On March 16, the video conversation between the Patriarch and Francis took place, from which no progress emerged. And at the end of March the promise to meet by the summer. In the meantime, it seems like a fading possibility, but the Holy See will always be attentive to every glimmer of hope.
The Churches in Ukraine
It is not easy to reconstruct the events of the Eastern Churches, almost always divided on a national basis and therefore animated by a spirit so different from (universal) Catholicism. In the case of Ukraine there was a double laceration. Until the fall of the USSR there was no division between the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches. But after the independence of the former Soviet republic, the separation occurred in 1991, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was born, autonomous from Moscow and faithful to Constantinople; however, a part of the clergy and faithful decides to remain faithful to the Patriarchate of Moscow. Now with the war this too is faltering: the party loyal to the Moscow Patriarchate has expressed its condemnation of Russian aggression against the Ukrainian people, implicitly coming into conflict with the Patriarchate itself.
It is in this climate that Pope Francis, as he announced during his trip to Malta on 2-3 April, said he was willing to go to Kiev, but only if it was of some use. One month after the conflict, on March 25th, the day of the Annunciation, the Holy Father, in the wake of his predecessors (first Pius XII, and then Paul VI and John Paul II) consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so that she can intercede for peace, addressing her the supplication:
«Therefore, O Mother, accept this plea of ours.
You, star of the sea, not
let us sink
in the storm of war.
You, ark of the new alliance, inspire projects
and ways of reconciliation.
You, "land of Heaven", bring God's harmony back to the world.
Extinguish hatred, appease revenge, teach us forgiveness.
Free us from war, save the world from threat
nuclear.
Queen of the Rosary, awaken
within us the need to pray
and to love.
Queen of the human family, she shows people the way of brotherhood.
Queen of Peace, obtain
peace to the world."