Pope Francis Blames NATO – WSJ

The Pope said he has requested an audience with Mr. Putin but hasn t heard back. Asked whether he d visit Kyiv, he said he must go to Moscow first: If Putin decided to leave the door open . . . This is a pattern. Recall that the Pope declined to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2020, at least partly because of America s opposition to the Vatican s egregious deal-making with the Chinese Communist Party.

This isn t about whether the Vatican aligns perfectly with the West or the U.S. Pope John Paul II was a vociferous critic of the 2003 Iraq War but kept the respect of those who remembered his opposition to Soviet imperialism. Consistency matters.

The Pope is the spiritual leader of more than one billion Catholics, but the moral authority behind the papacy damaged as it is can still transcend religion from time to time. This makes Francis s equivocating on Russia s invasion of Ukraine all the more frustrating for those who recall how powerful a force for good a Pope can be.

via www.wsj.com