No to war and warmly welcome refugees from Ukraine

 

Extinguishing a building fire after a bombardment  (AFP or licensors)

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Archbishop Paglia: 'May war in Ukraine cease and Europe welcome refugees'

The President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, offers a reflection on the war in Ukraine, underscoring Pope Francis' "no" to war and appeal for negotiation.

By Tiziana Campisi

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia is calling on world leaders to create a "far-sighted policy to be able to point a way forward for all humanity."

The President of the Pontifical Academy for Life said Europe needs to imagine and build a different future, so that the conflict in Ukraine will be the last and serve as an example on the need to search and identify new ways of coexistence among peoples.

Archbishop Paglia offered a reflection on the war in Ukraine in an article published on Tuesday by the Italian newspaper "Il Riformista", in which he underscores the heartfelt appeal of Pope Francis last Sunday at the Angelus, saying 'In the name of God, stop this massacre!' 

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Wise and renewed Europe

Archbishop Paglia says "we need an effective and useful political farsightedness, so that we come out of this trial with a renewed, wise, long-lasting European plan."

“It seems to me that there are no alternatives: Europe is one; it has two lungs, certainly, East and West have common characteristics and different ones, but it is always about Europe.”

The Archbishop added that we must "speak of a Jewish-Christian Europe," as John Paul II often termed it. 

Fair political solution that respects rights

For the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, "it is indispensable to rethink a future that embraces Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals."

“The Europe of NATO, the European Union, the G-7 that sometimes becomes G-8, must be redesigned with different political solutions, under the auspices of political, economic, financial and cultural project that includes all countries, no one excluded.”

Europe should bring together the people of the future requires a "political solution that is fair, concrete, respectful of international law and rights," Archbishop Paglia stresses.

"We should really and decisively focus on negotiations, the instrument used by people throughout history to come up with solutions," he says.

Archbishop Paglia then points out that the world is still experiencing "a pandemic that has not yet been defeated," "an environmental and climate crisis" that will have consequences for everyone, and "a change of era at the level of new technologies" having profound impacts on all.

He concludes that weapons and war are not the answer to solving our problems.