Joe Biden's visit to Ukraine is a powerful signal for the whole world. For other Western leaders, Kyiv is now a symbolic place of power in the context of the struggle between democracy and authoritarianism.
About thisChannel 24said international expert, candidate of political sciences Bogdan Ferens. According to him, the US President, with his visit to Kiev, demonstrated the unity of the Western world in supporting Ukraine.
Fehrens recalled that the leaders of Western states have been actively visiting Ukraine since the spring of 2022. In 2022, Pope Francis also announced his desire to visit Ukraine. Then he noted that he would like to come to Kiev to help end the war.
“The Pope is not only a religious leader, but also the head of state of the Vatican,” said Ferens.
Why the Pope has not yet visited Ukraine
An international expert noted that the likelihood of the Pope's visit to Ukraine looked quite real. However, the pontiff never came to Kyiv. Ferens believes there are two reasons for this.
- The health of the Pope. According to an international expert, the pontiff probably had to postpone his trip due to illness.
- Christian vision of solving wars. Ferens recalled that sometimes the messages that sounded from the Vatican at the beginning of a full-scale Russian invasion were very harshly perceived in Ukraine.
“For most of us, such statements are incomprehensible, because we evaluate the Pope as political, not a Christian leader,” said the candidate of political sciences.
The significance of the likely visit of the pontiff to Kiev
Fehrens believes that sooner or later the Pope will visit Ukraine.A visit to Kyiv by US President Joe Biden can play a certain role in this. If the pontiff came to Ukraine, it would be very important.
“After all Pope Francis is the moral authority for billions of Catholics in the world. They all definitely follow the pontiff and listen to his statements,” said the international expert.
Fehrens stressed that it is important that the Pope visit Kiev or at least Lviv.
This would be a powerful signal at least for Latin America, where many countries are not yet fully deepened into the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war and do not want to resist Russian aggression and support Ukraine 100%. For example, like Brazil, the expert noted.
He suggested that the pontiff's visit to Ukraine could contribute to a change in public sentiment in many Catholic countries.
Unsuccessful attempt at interchurch dialogue
At the same time, Ferens is convinced that if the Pope visited Ukraine, this would not affect the Russians in any way. First of all, this is due to the fact that the authority of the pontiff in Russia is low, since it is an Orthodox country.
An international expert said that Francis, shortly after taking the post of head of the Catholic Church, had a sincere desire to establish a dialogue with Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church and talk about Christian values.
The Pope probably did not fully realize that Cyril is not the values of Christians. This is about politics, about the special services, but definitely not about religion. An attempt to establish an inter-church dialogue failed. Probably, the pontiff was disappointed, Ferens said.
He added that common Christian morality is based on the fact that blood should not be shed. But in countries like Russia, the church is just a tool to tighten the screws that strengthen Vladimir Putin's autocracy.
The Pope's position on the war in Ukraine: in short
- Pope Francis said he would like to speak with the presidents of Ukraine and Russia. The pontiff once again called for dialogue.
- The Pope noted that he was open to meeting with both presidents. The pontiff said that he did not leave for Kiev only because he could not leave for Moscow yet.
- In early January, the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, once again. put an equal sign between Russians and Ukrainians – that is, between aggressors and victims. He declared that the mothers of both states should be prayed for because they lost their children in the war.
