Pope Leo rejects Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ invite and backs UN to resolve international crises | EUROtoday

Pope Leo XIV has turned down Donald Trump’s invitation to affix his so-called “Board of Peace”, a senior Vatican official stated.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, advised reporters on Tuesday that the Pope had a variety of issues in regards to the initiative and that he “will not participate” because of this.

“For us, there are… some critical issues that should be resolved,” he stated. “One concern is that at the international level it should above all be the UN that manages these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have insisted.”

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Mr Trump has invited a variety of world leaders to affix the board, initially conceived as a physique to oversee the ceasefire in Gaza and coordinate the Strip’s reconstruction following the battle between Hamas and Israel.

Its scope has since been expanded, with Mr Trump saying it could be well-placed to deal with a variety of world disputes. Some see it as an effort by the US president to ascertain and various multilateral discussion board to the United Nations, which he has repeatedly criticised as not being match for goal.

It was Cardinal Parolin who earlier confirmed that the Pope had been invited to affix the board by Mr Trump. He stated in January that “the Pope has received the invitation, and we are considering what to do; we are looking into it.”

He stated on the time that the invitation to affix the board “requires some time to answer” and that the request “will not be to participate financially” as a result of “we are not in a position to do so”.

Mr Trump claims the Board of Peace has already dedicated greater than $5bn (£3.67bn) to assist rebuild Gaza.

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But there have been issues over the board’s line-up, with European governments expressing shock that Mr Trump had invited Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who has waged struggle on Ukraine since February 2022.

Arab states have additionally expressed anger on the inclusion of Benjamin Netanyahu, citing the Gaza struggle that has resulted within the deaths of 72,000 Palestinians.

And there have been issues in regards to the outstanding function of former UK prime minister Tony Blair – one of many first names introduced by Mr Trump in connection to the initiative. Mr Blair is predicted to take a seat on the board’s founding government regardless of longstanding criticism over Britain’s involvement within the Iraq struggle.

Despite the controversy, dozens of nations – together with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Hungary, and the United Arab Emirates – have dedicated to becoming a member of the board.

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Pope Leo has repeatedly criticised Mr Trump’s insurance policies since being named the primary American pontiff. In October final 12 months, he questioned whether or not the president’s hardline immigration insurance policies have been in keeping with the Catholic Church’s “pro-life” values.

“Someone who says I am against abortion but I am in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don’t know if that’s pro-life,” he advised the media in Rome.

At the time, the White House pushed again on the feedback. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated she “would reject there was inhumane treatment of illegal immigrants in the United States under this administration”.

“This administration is trying to enforce our nation’s laws in the most humane way possible, and we are upholding the law. We are doing that on behalf of the people of our country who live here.”

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In November the Pope backed a message from US bishops criticising the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, together with mass deportations and the remedy of migrants. “I think we have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have. If people are in the United States illegally, there are ways to treat that. There are courts, there’s a system of justice,” he stated.

“But when people are living good lives, and many of them for 10, 15, 20 years, to treat them in a way that is extremely disrespectful to say the least – and there’s been some violence unfortunately – I think that the bishops have been very clear in what they said.

“I would just invite all people in the United States to listen to them.”

In January this 12 months, Pope Leo delivered a strong speech during which he condemned the rising international “zeal for war”. While he didn’t name out Mr Trump by title, his handle got here after the US navy operation to forcibly take away Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro and convey him to American soil.

“A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force,” Leo advised diplomats from 184 international locations. “War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading.”