Cardinal Parolin: ‘We are waiting for a signal from Moscow to dialogue'

By Linda Bordoni

“Pope Francis is ready to fly to Moscow,” Cardinal Parolin said answering reporters’ questions following a book presentation in Rome. “The Pope and the Holy See are ready to do everything possible to stop the war.”

“He is waiting only for a sign of openness from Russia.”

Commenting further on the topic that stems from an interview this week with an Italian daily, the Cardinal said that in his opinion "at this point there are no other steps to be taken. There has been an offer from the Holy Father to go to Moscow, to meet personally with President Putin: We are waiting for them to tell us what they want, what they intend to do.” 

“The door,” he said, “is therefore wide open regarding the possibility of engaging in a constructive dialogue that will silence the weapons that have been hammering Ukraine for over two months.”

In the just mentioned interview, Pope Francis also referred to a letter sent by the Secretary of State to the Kremlin in the hope that the Russian president would grant a window of opportunity for dialogue.

A note from the Russian Patriarchate following that interview alluded to what it perceived as the “wrong tone” used in a video call between the Pope and the Patriarch Kirill on March 16.

But beyond the tones, Parolin reiterated, the desire remains to leave no stone unturned to rebuild the international balance that has been undermined by the war: "The world needs peace, to be healthy we need to breathe peace," as the Pope repeated a few days ago, so that the strength of fraternity may eventually prevail.