Pope Francis' peace envoy to visit Moscow this week
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Cardinal Zuppi to visit Moscow as Pope Francis' peace envoy
By Devin Watkins
The Holy See Press Office confirmed on Tuesday that Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna and President of the Italian Bishops' Conference, will embark on a visit to Moscow as an envoy of Pope Francis.
The visit, scheduled for 28-29 June 2023, aims to strengthen “gestures of humanity that can contribute to promoting a solution to the current tragic situation and find paths toward a just peace.”
Cardinal Zuppi will be accompanied by an Official from the Secretariat of State.
As he visits Moscow, Cardinal Zuppi will likely uphold Pope Francis desire for a resolution to the war on the European continent.
The Pope has been a vocal advocate for peace, consistently calling on world leaders and individuals alike to work towards resolving conflict through peaceful means.
He has made countless appeals for prayers for people suffering due to the war in Ukraine.
Previous visit to Kyiv
The Italian-born Cardinal’s visit comes on the heels of his previous visit to Kyiv, on 5-6 June, during which he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other high-level government officials.
During the meeting, Cardinal Zuppi conveyed Pope Francis' concern for the Ukrainian people.
The Cardinal emphasized the need for parties involved to prioritize dialogue and find common ground for a just resolution to the war.
The meeting with President Zelensky provided an opportunity to discuss steps to alleviate suffering, rebuild trust, and advance reconciliation.
Cardinal Zuppi reiterated the Vatican's readiness to assist through diplomatic channels and humanitarian initiatives.
As the papal peace envoy, Cardinal Zuppi's visit to Moscow seeks to underscore the Holy See’s dedication to actively engage in peacebuilding efforts and collaborate with international partners on behalf of peace.
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Pope’s peace envoy arrives in Moscow after the short-lived Wagner rebellion
FILE - Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, head of the CEI (Italian Conference of Bishops) speaks during a press conference at The Vatican, on May 25, 2023. Pope Francis’ peace envoy arrived in Moscow on Tuesday in hopes of helping find “a solution to the tragic current situation” of the war in Ukraine, weeks after making a preliminary visit to Kyiv, the Vatican said. The mission by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, a veteran of the Catholic Church’s peace initiatives, comes as the Kremlin is reeling from the weekend armed rebellion led by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. Russia has since dropped charges against Prigozhin and others who took part in the brief rebellion. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis, File)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shakes hands with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, head of the CEI (Italian Conference of Bishops) in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, June 6, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
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ROME (AP) — Pope Francis’ peace envoy arrived in Moscow on Tuesday in hopes of helping find “a solution to the tragic current situation” of the war in Ukraine , weeks after making a preliminary visit to Kyiv, the Vatican said.
The mission by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, a veteran of the Catholic Church’s peace initiatives, comes as the Kremlin is reeling from the weekend armed rebellion led by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin . Russia has since dropped charges against Prigozhin and others who took part in the brief mutiny.
Details of Zuppi’s itinerary weren’t immediately clear. When he visited Kyiv earlier this month, he met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In Moscow, one likely visit would be paid to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, whose leader Patriarch Kirill has strongly supported the war.
The Vatican has said Zuppi is hoping to find “paths of peace” in his shuttle missions.
On the Moscow leg, Zuppi was accompanied by an official from the Vatican secretariat of state. His car was seen arriving at the Moscow embassy Tuesday evening, according to footage aired on Italian state-run RAI television, which said he was expected to have meetings with religious and possibly political figures in the coming days.
He is due to remain in Moscow until Thursday, which is the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul — an important day for both Catholic and Orthodox Christians.
“The principle aim of the initiative is to encourage gestures of humanity that can contribute to favor a solution to the tragic current situation and find paths to a just peace,” the Vatican statement said.
Zuppi, 67, is the archbishop of Bologna, president of the Italian bishops conference and a veteran of the Catholic Church’s peace mediation initiatives through his longtime affiliation with the Sant’Egidio Community. Through the Rome-based charity, Zuppi helped mediate the 1990s peace deals ending civil wars in Guatemala and Mozambique, and headed the commission negotiating a cease-fire in Burundi in 2000, according to Sant’Egidio.
A pastor in Francis’ style and considered “papabile” — having the qualities of a future pope — Zuppi was tapped by Francis in May.
The Argentine Jesuit pope has repeatedly expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people and called for peace, but he has refrained from calling out Russia or President Vladimir Putin by name.
The Vatican has a tradition of quiet diplomacy and not taking sides in conflicts, in hopes of helping forge peaceful outcomes.
Pope Francis denies resignation rumors, says he hopes to visit Moscow and Kyiv
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has dismissed reports that he plans to resign in the near future, saying he is on track to visit Canada this month and hopes to be able to go to Moscow and Kyiv as soon as possible after that.
In an exclusive interview in his Vatican residence, Francis also denied rumors that he had cancer, joking that his doctors “didn’t tell me anything about it,” and for the first time gave details of the knee condition that has prevented him from carrying out some duties.
In a 90-minute conversation on Saturday afternoon, conducted in Italian, with no aides present, the 85-year-old pontiff also repeated his condemnation of abortion following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month.
Rumors have swirled in the media that a conjunction of events in late August, including meetings with the world’s cardinals to discuss a new Vatican constitution, a ceremony to induct new cardinals, and a visit to the Italian city of L’Aquila, could foreshadow a resignation announcement.
L’Aquila is associated with Pope Celestine V, who resigned the papacy in 1294. Pope Benedict XVI visited the city four years before he resigned in 2013, the first pope to do so in about 600 years.
But Francis, alert and at ease throughout the interview as he discussed a wide range of international and Church issues, laughed the idea off.
“All of these coincidences made some think that the same ‘liturgy’ would happen,” he said. “But it never entered my mind. For the moment no, for the moment, no. Really!”
Francis did, however, repeat his often stated position that he might resign someday if failing health made it impossible for him to run the Church — something that had been almost unthinkable before Benedict XVI.
Asked when he thought that might be, he said: “We don’t know. God will say.”
Knee injury
The interview took place on the day he was to have left for Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, a trip he had to cancel because doctors said he might also have to miss a trip to Canada from July 24-30 unless he agreed to have 20 more days of therapy and rest for his right knee.
He said the decision to cancel the Africa trip had caused him “much suffering,” particularly because he wanted to promote peace in both countries.
Francis used a cane as he walked into a reception room on the ground floor of the Santa Marta guest house where he has lived since his election in 2013, eschewing the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors.
The room has a copy of one of Francis’ favorite paintings: “Mary, Untier of Knots,” created around 1700 by the German Joachim Schmidtner.
Asked how he was, the pope joked: “I’m still alive!”
He gave details of his ailment for the first time in public, saying he had suffered “a small fracture” in the knee when he took a misstep while a ligament was inflamed.
“I am well, I am slowly getting better,” he said, adding that the fracture was knitting, helped by laser and magnet therapy.
Francis also dismissed rumors that a cancer had been found a year ago when he underwent a six-hour operation to remove part of his colon because of diverticulitis, a condition common in the elderly.
“It (the operation) was a great success,” he said, adding with a laugh that “they didn’t tell me anything” about the supposed cancer, which he dismissed as “court gossip.”
But he said he did not want an operation on his knee because the general anaesthetic in last year’s surgery had had negative side-effects.
Papal trip to Moscow?
Speaking of the situation in Ukraine, Francis noted that there have been contacts between Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about a possible trip to Moscow.
The initial signs were not good. No pope has ever visited Moscow, and Francis has repeatedly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; last Thursday he implicitly accused it of waging a “cruel and senseless war of aggression.”
When the Vatican first asked about a trip several months ago, Francis said Moscow replied that it was not the right time.
But he hinted that something may now have changed.
“I would like to go (to Ukraine), and I wanted to go to Moscow first. We exchanged messages about this because I thought that if the Russian president gave me a small window to serve the cause of peace ...
“And now it is possible, after I come back from Canada, it is possible that I manage to go to Ukraine,” he said. “The first thing is to go to Russia to try to help in some way, but I would like to go to both capitals.”
Abortion ruling
Asked about the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that guaranteed s constitutional right to abortion, Francis said he respected the decision but did not have enough information to speak about it from a juridical point of view.
But he strongly condemned abortion, comparing it to “hiring a hit man.” The Catholic Church teaches that life begins at the moment of conception.
“I ask: Is it legitimate, is it right, to eliminate a human life to resolve a problem?”
Francis was asked about a debate in the United States over whether a Catholic politician who is personally opposed to abortion but supports others’ right to choose should be allowed to receive the sacrament of communion.
House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, for example, has been barred by the conservative archbishop of her home diocese of San Francisco from receiving it there, but is regularly given communion at a parish in Washington, D.C. Last week, she received the sacrament at a papal Mass in the Vatican.
“When the Church loses its pastoral nature, when a bishop loses his pastoral nature, it causes a political problem,” the pope said. “That’s all I can say.”
- International
June 27, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news
By Kathleen Magramo , Sana Noor Haq, Ed Upright, Adrienne Vogt , Aditi Sangal , Mike Hayes, Maureen Chowdhury and Tori B. Powell , CNN
The Pope's peace envoy will visit Moscow this week
From John Allen in Rome
Pope Francis' peace envoy will travel to Moscow on Wednesday and Thursday this week, according to a statement from the Vatican Press Office.
"Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, accompanied by an official of the Secretariat of State, will undertake a visit to Moscow, as the envoy of Pope Francis," the Vatican statement said.
"The principal scope of the initiative is to encourage gestures of humanity, which can contribute to favoring a solution to the current tragic situation and to finding paths to reach a just peace," it added.
Putin to speak to law enforcement units who stopped attempted Wagner mutiny
From CNN's Anna Chernova
President Vladimir Putin will today address the security forces that participated in Moscow's defensive efforts against the Wagner group mutiny on Saturday.
The event with invited law enforcement squads will take place in Cathedral Square inside the Kremlin, according to government spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has appeared in the Kremlin ahead of the expected address.
Putin confirms deaths of Russian pilots in Wagner clashes
From CNN's Katharina Krebs
President Vladimir Putin praised the "courage and self-sacrifice" shown by Russian army pilots who died while fighting against Wagner troops over the weekend, after paramilitary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin led a failed insurrection against the Kremlin.
"I thank all our military personnel, law enforcement officers, special services who stood in the way of the rebels, remained faithful to their duty, oath and their people," he said in a national address on Monday.
"The courage and self-sacrifice of the fallen heroes-pilots saved Russia from tragic devastating consequences," he added.
Prigozhin said earlier that "not a single solider on the ground was killed," during his march toward Moscow on Saturday.
“We regret that we were forced to strikes on aircraft,” he said on Monday, adding: “But these aircraft dropped bombs and launched missile strikes.”
CNN's Mariya Knight in Atlanta and Anna Chernova contributed reporting.
Lukashenko addresses Belarus' involvement in stifling Wagner rebellion
From CNN’s Anna Chernova
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has highlighted his purported role in quelling the Wagner group's armed rebellion attempt against the Kremlin at the weekend, speaking about a deal between Moscow, Minsk and Wagner that has been shrouded in secrecy.
Lukashenko did not offer many details about the mediation, which led to paramilitary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin turning his fighters away from Moscow because he claimed he wanted to avoid spilling Russian blood.
“Given the role of Belarus in resolving this situation, I must say a few words here about what happened and explain our position and the decisions taken,” Lukashenko said, referring to the deal.
Lukashenko, who has a political track record of cracking down on dissent, claimed the Belarusian opposition was trying to make use of the situation.
"When the events in Russia took place, I gave all the orders to bring the army to full combat readiness,” he said.
“No one, not even in these snotty Telegram channels, blathered against it.
“All the [Belarusian] Armed Forces, including the police and special forces, were put on full alert,” he added.
“In no case should you make a hero out of me, neither of me, nor of [Vladimir] Putin, or of [Yevgeny] Prigozhin, because we missed the situation, and then we thought that it would resolve, but it did not resolve. And two people who fought at the front collided.
Russia says it will drop charges against Wagner for armed insurrection attempt
From CNN's Maria Kostenko, Clare Sebastian and Lauren Kent
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Tuesday that it will drop the case against the Wagner paramilitary group, after its fighters staged an attempted rebellion on Saturday that threatened President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power.
"The case of the armed insurrection armed was dropped on June 27, the FSB said," state media RIA Novosti reported.
"During the investigation of the case of the rebellion, it was established that its participants stopped their actions directly aimed at committing a crime, the case was closed," the FSB press service said in a statement on Tuesday.
The statement did not mention Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin by name.
Wagner will also hand over its heavy military equipment to active units of the Russian military, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday, according to RIA Novosti.
On Monday, Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed that the mercenary group was due to leave its positions on June 30 and hand over equipment to the Southern Military District in Rostov, Russia.
However, he claimed Moscow's troops attacked Wagner forces on Friday, days before that handover was due to take place.
Belarus president says it was "painful to watch the events that took place in the south of Russia"
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko declared it was "painful to watch" Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin's attempted insurrection over the weekend, in his first address since the most serious leadership challenge to ally Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I won’t hide it, it was painful to watch the events that took place in the south of Russia," he said during an epaulette-giving ceremony in Minsk.
"Not only for me. Many of our citizens took them close to heart. Because there is only one fatherland," he added, according to Belarusian state news agency, BelTA. The comments were not televised nor have yet appeared in video clips.
Lukashenko did not make any reference to Prigozhin by name or say anything about his whereabouts. The Wagner head has not been seen in public since he called off his uprising on Saturday.
The Belarus president also said he had made military preparations during the events of the weekend. “I gave all orders to bring the army to full combat readiness,” he said.
Some background: Lukashenko, often referred to as "Europe's last dictator" purportedly had a hand in quelling the threat of mutiny on Saturday.
Prigozhin abruptly halted Wagner's advance, claiming his fighters had reached within 200 kilometers (124 miles) of Moscow but were retreating to avoid Russian bloodshed.
Lukashenko apparently made a deal with Prigozhin that would see the Wagner chief leave for Belarus; a criminal case against the mercenary boss would be dropped; and Wagner fighters would be folded into formal military structures by signing contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The decision followed an unprecedented intervention by Lukashenko himself, according to the Belarusian presidential press service. However, Russian and Belarusian officials have remained tightlipped on the details of the supposed deal.
Analysis: Biden turns the screw on Putin even as US denies role in Wagner rebellion
Analysis from CNN's Stephen Collinson
Russia’s short-lived insurrection has handed Joe Biden the most perilous version yet of a dilemma that has confounded the last five US presidents: how to handle Vladimir Putin .
Every US commander in chief since Bill Clinton has sought in some way to engage the former KGB officer, whose mission to restore Russian greatness was ignited by his humiliation at the fall of the former Soviet Union. Most have sought some kind of reset of US-Russia relations. But all failed to avert the plunge in ties between the two nuclear superpowers.
Biden, who came of age in Washington as a senator during some of the most embittered years of the US-Soviet standoff in the 1970s and 1980s, had fewer illusions about Putin than most. But even he tried to break the chill, by meeting his counterpart at a summit in Geneva in 2021.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, however, led him instead to reinvigorate the NATO alliance with an extraordinary pipeline of arms and ammunition designed to ensure the country’s survival. Western support has not only enabled Ukraine to fight back against invading forces, it has helped turn the war into a quagmire that spiked political pressure on Putin and created battlefield conditions that likely helped lead to mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s revolt over the weekend.
Putin appeared on camera on Monday, defiantly warning that he would have had no trouble suppressing the uprising had the Wagner Group leader not chosen to halt his march on Moscow in a deal that ostensibly will see him exiled to Belarus.
But there was widespread agreement outside Russia that the showdown represented the most serious challenge to Putin’s grip on power during his generation in control and could even be a crack that spells the beginning of the end of his authority.
So Biden, therefore, faces a possibility that none of the predecessors who wrestled with Putin had to contemplate — that he is dealing with the endgame of this modern czar, and the prospect of instability rocking a nuclear superpower that could have global implications.
Read the full analysis here.
It's early morning in Moscow. Here's what you need to know about the situation in Russia
From CNN staff
In an address to the Russian nation Monday, President Vladimir Putin said Wagner's uprising "would have been suppressed anyway," but thanked mercenary fighters who made the "right decision" by halting their advance.
He then offered them a choice: sign contracts with Russia's Defense Ministry or other law enforcement, return to their families, or: "Whoever wants to can go to Belarus," he said.
Wagner's march was called off over the weekend when a supposed deal was struck that would see its chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin , move to Belarus.
Putin did not mention Prigozhin by name in his address Monday, but accused rebellion organizers of "betraying their country."
A source at Russia's Prosecutor General’s Office said Prigozhin remains under investigation . His whereabouts are unknown.
Here are the latest headlines on the rebellion and Russia's war in Ukraine:
- Putin meets top officials: The Russian President held a meeting with the heads of security agencies including Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, a Kremlin spokesperson said Monday, according to state media. Prigozhin had previously accused Shoigu and Russia’s top general of not giving his forces ammunition and was critical of their handling of the conflict in Ukraine. Putin also spoke with the UAE's President about the rebellion , the Kremlin said.
- Wagner chief's reasoning: Earlier Monday, Prigozhin broke his silence in an audio message, saying he called off the march to prevent Russian bloodshed and the uprising was a protest — not an attempt to topple the government. He said the Russian Defense Ministry had planned for Wagner to "cease to exist" from July 1.
- US response: As Russia faced rebellion, White House officials reached out to foreign and domestic oil producers about the situation unfolding in one of the world’s leading oil powers, a US official told CNN. On Monday, US President Joe Biden said he'd instructed members of his national security team to "prepare for a range of scenarios." Biden emphasized the US and its allies had "nothing to do" with Saturday's events in Russia.
- Lukashenko to speak: Belarusian state media said President Alexander Lukashenko will answer questions from reporters on Tuesday, according to Russian state media. Prigozhin had agreed Saturday to leave Russia for Belarus, the Kremlin said, in a deal apparently brokered by Lukashenko, a close Putin ally.
- US intel aware: US intelligence officials were gathered an extremely detailed and accurate picture of Prigozhin's plans leading up to his rebellion , including where and how Wagner was planning to advance, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. But the intelligence was so closely held that it was shared only with select allies, including senior British officials, and not at the broader NATO level, sources said.
- State Duma says defenses in control: The Russian State Duma, or lower parliament, said the defense forces exercised total control during the rebellion , according to Russian state media. Andrey Kartapolov, the Duma's head of the Defense Committee, said, "no chaos arose in the Russian defense forces in the background of an attempted armed rebellion, combat control was not interrupted even for a minute."
- Kyiv claims advances: President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces have made advances on all fronts . The remarks followed his visit to the front lines in the Donetsk region on Monday. Ukraine's military said separately that Russia was focusing its efforts on cities in the eastern region.
China's foreign minister touts Beijing and Moscow as a force for "global peace"
From CNN's Hira Humayun
Russia and China are "an important force in ensuring global peace and in promoting inclusive development," Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang claimed in a video address Tuesday, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
Speaking at a conference in Beijing held by the Russian International Affairs Council and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Qin reiterated Beijing's support for Moscow, saying it plans to work with Russia to oppose the "use of force and hegemony of individual states," TASS said.
Qin's remarks come after senior Chinese officials expressed support for Moscow during a meeting with Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko in Beijing on Sunday following the Wagner rebellion , according to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement.
On Sunday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson referred to the uprising as Russia's "internal affair" and added: "As Russia’s friendly neighbor and comprehensive strategic partner of coordination for the new era, China supports Russia in maintaining national stability and achieving development and prosperity."
Some context: China and Russia declared a friendship with “no limits” in February 2022, shortly before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his war on Ukraine. Since then, Beijing has refused to condemn the invasion and instead provided much-needed diplomatic and economic support for Russia while attempting to portray itself as a peacemaker in the conflict — a position that has further soured its relations with Western nations.
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