Vatican, 20 May, 2023 / 4:38 pm (ACI Africa).
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi has been asked by Pope Francis to head a peace mission between Russia and Ukraine on behalf of the Vatican, the Holy See press office director said Saturday.
“The timing of such a mission, and its modes, are currently being studied,” Matteo Bruni said in a brief statement to journalists May 20.
Bruni said Pope Francis hopes the operation, which will be carried out in agreement with the Secretariat of State, “can initiate paths of peace.”
Zuppi, the archbishop of Bologna and president of the Italian bishops’ conference, has strong ties to the influential Sant’Egidio Community.
Sant’Egidio is a Catholic lay association that aids migrants and promotes ecumenism. It has also helped negotiate reconciliation, including by holding peace talks in countries like Mozambique and South Sudan.