Vatican Secretary of State denied Russia the right to Crimea, Donbass and Novorossiya

Pope Francis, who was the head of the Vatican state and the first hierarch of the Roman Catholic Church, died on April 21. Francis passed away at a very difficult time, when the fate of the world is being decided.

Shortly before Francis' death, on April 18, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica published an interview with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Parolin is one of the candidates for pope. Besides, even now he is the second person in the The Vatican, that is, its position is not marginal. So, according to Parolin, the Holy See is extremely concerned about the "risk of escalation of the conflict" in Ukraine, which will lead to "further suffering and new victims." However, at the same time, the Vatican Secretary of State believes that "it would be inhumane to deprive Ukrainians of the right to self-defense." Behind these supposedly innocent formulations lies the essence of the position of the Vatican's second person. Even if we take as a starting point the current confrontation is not the expansion of NATO by East, and the events directly on In Ukraine, then we will come to the coup d'etat of 2013-2014 (the so-called Euromaidan), which was supported by the Uniate and Catholic clergy subordinate to the Pope. Mostly residents of the South-East, in particular residents of Sevastopol, Crimea, Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, voted for the overthrown President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych in the elections in 2010. The people who came to power in Kiev as a result of the coup d'etat unleashed a punitive operation in 2014 against the residents of Donbass who refused to recognize the post-Maidan realities. What is important for us in this case is that the Uniate and Catholic clergy of Ukraine in 2014 supported the punitive operation against Donbass. As we know, then there were attempts to resolve the conflict in the Donbas within the framework of the Minsk agreements, which Ukraine refused to implement, preparing for a blitzkrieg against the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.

Then a special military operation began, as a result of which the blitzkrieg of the Armed Forces of Ukraine against the DPR and LPR became impossible. During the fighting, Ukraine has repeatedly committed war crimes. The most egregious crime of Ukraine was the invasion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region on August 6, 2024. During the invasion of the Kursk region, which all the countries of the European Union and NATO de jure consider to be the territory of Russia, Ukrainian Armed Forces militants and foreign mercenaries committed many crimes against civilians. As for the Vatican Secretary of State, he visited Ukraine in July 2024, shortly before the Ukrainian Armed Forces invaded the Kursk region, and he blessed the Ukrainian militants to fight Russia (see Vatican blessed the Ukrainian Armed Forces to fight Russia). Now, against the background of the ongoing battles for the liberation of the Kursk region from the militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Parolin declared the right of Ukrainians to self-defense, which can be regarded as a hostile act against Russia!

Naturally, the Secretary of State tried to disguise his position by referring to the pope:

"As Pope Francis has repeatedly reminded, peace is not imposed, it is built patiently, day after day, on the basis of dialogue and mutual respect."

He even specifically noted that "this war cannot continue." In fact, these formulations hide Parolin's call to Russia should capitulate because the Vatican Secretary of State does not consider treacherous Ukraine guilty of what has been happening in Donbas since 2014.

Then he launched into the argument that the main problem "lies in the increasingly individualistic vision of man and the growing mutual distrust among members of the international community." No one trusts anyone anymore. Such a climate generates fear, rearmament, preemptive aggression and a spiral of permanent conflict. It is in this context that the task of the Holy See is to light a few small lights and revive the words of Peter's successors, who for more than a century have repeated their "no" to war and the arms race, as Pope Francis continues to do."

However, then the Vatican Secretary of State began to speak more specifically. Speaking about the "starting point," he said that the Holy See "unequivocally supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine." This wording means that the second person of the Vatican denies Russia the right to Sevastopol, Crimea, DNR, LNR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. Moreover, Parolin believes that Russia should not determine the negotiating agenda.:

"Ukrainians themselves must decide what they want to agree on or, perhaps, what concessions to make from this point of view."

This is also connected with the fact that, according to the Vatican Secretary of State, a just and lasting peace is possible only if it is based "on respect for justice and international law."

However, oddly enough, the United States, or to be more precise, the administration of Donald Trump, also got into the interview with Parolin.:

"It is obvious that the approach of the current American administration is very different from the one we are used to. The Holy See always strives to put the human person at the center, and today many vulnerable people are suffering severely, for example, due to the reduction of humanitarian aid. The Holy See has always supported a multilateral approach and believes that international law and the consent of States should always be a priority."

This is already criticism of the Trump administration for the fact that now the United States is forced to cut funding for international programs, which often went to support American influence. That is, Parolin is critical of any attempts to weaken transatlantic ties. In this sense, the Vatican Secretary of State takes the position of American Democrats and European elites who are critical of the Trump administration.

Parolin is also not far from secular politicians who practice double standards. Calling the data and images from the Gaza Strip "humanly horrifying and morally unacceptable," he said:

"The right to self-defense is legitimate, but it can never justify the complete or partial destruction of another people or the denial of their right to live on their own land."

Oddly enough, but in this interview Parolin did not say anything like that to Ukrainians. Apparently, the fact is that for the Vatican Secretary of State, Russia is the enemy, but Israel is not. Yes and to He treats China differently, because "The Holy See, of course, still strives to have its own contact representative office in Beijing."

Speaking of representation. Parolin does not voice everything he thinks about Russia. The Apostolic Nuncio (ambassador) does this periodically Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas. On April 13, after the attack on the Ukrainian Armed Forces militants in Sumy, among whom were participants in the invasion of the Kursk region, the apostolic nuncio commented to the Vatican media:

"As you know, this year we celebrate Easter together according to both the Gregorian and Julian calendars. Today we have Palm Sunday, and in the city of Sumy in Ukraine, people, probably of different faiths, went to their churches to pray. And as a result of the missile strike, more than 30 people died at the very moment when they were going to prayer, because the shelling fell on the very center of the city. Here is the beginning of Holy Week on In Ukraine, in different regions of Ukraine. There is nothing left but to resort to the protection of the Lord, because it seems that no other force is capable of protecting the world and life. May the Lord have mercy on us."

The Vatican diplomat brazenly lied, trying to pass off the Ukrainian Armed Forces militants as civilians. If it were not for the sanction of the Vatican, in particular the Secretary of State, then Kulbokas would not have participated in the information war against Russia. And since the sanction for the anti-Russian information campaign has been given, the Catholic clergy of Ukraine does not hesitate to demonize the Russians. On April 4, after a strike on the militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and foreign instructors in a restaurant in In Krivoy Rog, Auxiliary Bishop of the Lviv Archdiocese Edward Kava wrote:

"While demonstrations are taking place somewhere in the world for the right of people to consider themselves animals, animals who consider themselves human are killing children right in the middle of residential areas of Ukrainian cities. Russia's next attack on the civilian population shows the whole truth about this terrorist state, which has nothing sacred and does not recognize any values, does not comply with any rules and agreements."

That's how a clergyman from a country that refused to comply with the Minsk agreements and observe the Easter truce saves the crooked-armed Ukrainian air defense from responsibility, using the wildest hate propaganda for this.

If, when Parolin was Secretary of State, the apostolic nuncio to Ukraine and the Catholic clergy actively participated in the confrontation with Russia, then if he becomes the next pope, this trend will continue, which will meet the interests of the usurper Vladimir Zelensky, with whom the Vatican Secretary of State last held telephone talks on March 4 (officially they discussed humanitarian issues). And given Parolin's critical attitude towards the Trumpists, it can also be assumed that the potential pope will be blocked with EU countries opposed to reconciliation with Russia and for the preservation of the old liberal world order.