The Vatican calls for a conference for peace in Europe in the spirit of Helsinki

Salvatore Cernuzio – The Vatican

The “mistakes” and “horrors», appeals and negotiations, controversies and glimmers of peace, the erosion of the world and the tears of the Pope. Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin returned to the ten-month war in Ukraine in the Sala degli Arazzi, the tapestry room of the Borromeo Palace in Rome, where the Italian embassy to the Holy See is located. “It started with the aggression of the army of the Russian Federation“, but also calls for a universal commitment to the implementation of a major peace conference for Europe after the 1975 Helsinki conference for a lasting peace in the midst of the Cold War.

Cardinal Parolin spoke on the occasion of the conference “Europe and war, from the spirit of Helsinki to prospects for peace» event was organized by the Embassy of Italy in the Holy See in cooperation with Limes geopolitical review and Vatican media. The idea of ​​organizing such a meeting arose from the dialogues and the daily confrontation between the geopolitical overview Limes and the media of the Holy See, committed to themselves since February 24.describes the brutality of wartelling the stories of victims and refugees, reflecting the appeals of the Pope and sometimessound from the choir.

“Revitalizing the spirit of Helsinki”

Helsinki conference andmind” The wake-up call was at the center of various interventions. The reference to this historical event, in which the Holy See was also present with a delegation led by Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, was not mentioned in recent months, but by the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, Cardinal Parolin and Pope Francis himself. This morning at the Borromeo Palace, the talk was not analyzing Helsinki, but discussing it. “with creativity and courage” opportunities to return to the negotiating table.

A dream that collides with reality: “There are no conditions to repeat what happened in Helsinki today.” Cardinal Parolin announced at the beginning of his speech. However, we must tryrevives the soul“:”We must face this crisis, this war and many forgotten wars with new means. We cannot read the present and imagine the future based only on old models, old military alliances or “ideological and economic colonialism”.

“Risk of Addiction”

The Secretary of State referred to the Magisterium of the Popes Pacem in Terris hour Brother tutti, and since February 24, chronicles report bloody scenes: dead civilians, children under rubble, slain soldiers, displaced, half-collapsed cities in darkness and cold. Faced with this pain,there is a risk of addictionobserved the cardinal. In this sense, he emphasized that the Pope’s tears are at the feet of the Immaculate Conception “a powerful antidote to the risk of habituation and neglect”. The cardinal also recalled the call of Pope Francis “to resort to all diplomatic means, even those hitherto unused. achieve “just peace”. Peace, which seemed a distant goal, especially in recent weeks, “some glimmers of hope“We also looked for a possible resumption of negotiations”closures and increased bombing”.

“Are we doing our best?”

Cardinal Parolin voted for terror because there was “resuming discussions about the use of nuclear devices and atomic war as possible contingencies,” and anxietyThe rearmament race has accelerated with large monetary investments in several countries of the worldInstead, it should be used for food, work, medical care.

“We can only be surprised that we are really doing everything, everything possible to end this tragedy!” the state secretary said. So, after the Pope’s Angelus speech on October 2, a new sincere invitation to all heroes of international life “Do everything possible to end the current war without involving it in dangerous escalations and to encourage and support dialogue initiatives.”

A big European conference

“We need courage, we need to bet not on the necessity of war, but on peace… Why not work together to achieve a new great European conference dedicated to peace?” Cardinal Parolin asked and suggested “Greater participation of organized and pre-established European civil society, peace movements, think tanks and organizations working to raise awareness for peace and dialogue at all levelsAccording to him, this participation can contribute “refreshing and rejuvenating these notions of peace and solidarity, which are sometimes symbolically and conveniently evoked”.

“We have to be more courageous and more committed to ourselvesThe Secretary of State of the Holy See added. “Let’s not turn the desire for peace, which resides in the hearts of our people, into an attic of unfulfilled dreams!” For its part, the Holy See, said the cardinal, “Willing to do anything possible” to develop a way of dialogue and cooperation. “Let us all be committed to writing a new page in the history of Europe and the world, to end the ongoing fratricide in Ukraine.”

The first phase of the ceasefire

For Andrea Riccardi, founder of Sant’Egidio, “The dream that the conflict will extend like in Syria and together with the conflicts of our global world. “The spirit of Helsinki has been lost and we find ourselves at the prospect of a war without peace… Although Helsinki was criticized at the time, it was the fruit of a compromise and the origin of a great vision: the inviolability of borders, the status quo, European cooperation“.

“This vision is what is missing today. In order to overcome the war, we must ask ourselves what we want from Europe.” Andrea Riccardi said. “In order to start looking to the future, we must try to freeze such an intense war. Without a vision and with a war that consumes our energy, it is difficult to seek ways of peace.” It would be the first step “truce, at least Christmas fire”. But Riccardi asked:How to propose a cease-fire and a cease-fire in a context where everything deals with arms and little or nothing with diplomacy? We have to stop the train going in only one direction, the side of the conflict. “We need to cool down the war in order to look at tomorrow.”