The pope’s program is too radically human to be relegated to the often misunderstood and misused notion of morality
Priests pray before a mass grave in the grounds surrounding St. Andrew’s Church in Bucha, Ukraine, on April 7, amid Russia’s military invasion. (Photo: AFP)
The inability of the Holy See to mediate an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine has left many people questioning the words and symbolic actions that Pope Francis has employed in regard to the armed conflict.
There are important historical, ecclesial and geographical reasons why there simply is no role for him in what’s happening between these two mainly Orthodox countries in Eastern Europe.
Nonetheless, those who have criticized Francis for not explicitly naming Russia or Vladimir Putin argue that — by not clearly identifying the aggressor — he is squandering the Catholic Church’s and his own moral authority on the global scene.
Those who defend the pope argue that he is actually safeguarding that same authority by refusing to name and shame the Kremlin and its leader, thus preserving his moral leadership by staying above the fray.
Perhaps one or the other of these views is right. But the danger in both is that they reduce the papacy’s mission in the global arena to simply that of moral leadership.
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