The Holy See repeats with the Russian invasion of Ukraine the mistake it made with the ISIS

@ElentirENG ES 6·04·2024 · 7:03 0

I am Catholic and it pains me to have to write this article, but I refuse to remain silent in the face of certain positions that the Holy See is taking.

The unfair messages that Pope Francis sends to two countries attacked by terrorists
The statements by Pope Francis on the Russian invasion and the Spanish Civil War

Parolin criticizes Ukraine's permission to use Western weapons in Russia

Last Friday, the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, criticized the decision of some countries to authorize Ukraine to use its weapons on Russian territory. "It is a truly disturbing prospect," Parolin said. He believes that this decision could lead to "an escalation that no one will be able to control."

Parolin has not condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine at any time

On February 24, 2022, the day that invasion began, Parolin stated: "There is still time for good will, There is room for negotiation, there is room for the exercise of wisdom that prevents partisan interests from prevailing, protects the legitimate aspirations of each individual and abhors the world the horrors and horrors of war." In that statement and in the ones he has made so far, Parolin has not once condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Like Pope Francis, in his statements the Vatican Secretary of State speaks about this war as if it were a fight in which both sides are to blame. Let us remember that on March 16, 2022, after the start of that invasion, Francis stated: "Wars are always unjust. Because it is the people of God who pays. Our hearts can only cry for the children, for the murdered women, for all the victims of war. War is never the solution."

The great mistake of contradicting Catholic doctrine on just war

I have already pointed out here several times that this position of Francis and the Holy See contradicts the Catholic doctrine on just war, adopting a position more inspired by so-called goodism than by Christian morality. This position means delegitimizing the legitimate defense of a country against aggression, contributing to putting those who fulfill their moral duty to defend their country against an attack and those who commit aggression on the same moral plane against another country.

This moral equation between the attacked and the aggressors is a great injustice that above all benefits the aggressors, by sending the perverse message that defending themselves against their attack is as illegitimate as the attack itself. But what is already the last straw is that the Holy See criticizes Ukraine for trying to suppress the bases from which Russia attacks the Ukrainian people, which is what some allied countries have begun to authorize (finally) after two years of invasion, at the same time it does not criticize the supply of weapons from certain countries such as Iran, communist China and North Korea to Russia, weapons that have been used in indiscriminate attacks against targets civilians in Ukraine.

Forcing Ukraine to defend itself with one hand tied behind its back

Until now, Western countries had forced Ukraine to defend itself with one hand tied behind its back, having to limit itself to shooting down the planes and missiles that Russia uses in its attacks but without penetrating Russian territory. It is the same perverse dynamic that some seek to impose on Israel, which has been enduring for years the launch of rockets from Gaza and Lebanon by Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists, attacks that had their turning point in the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7, 2023, with the largest massacre suffered by the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

The precedent of the Holy See's criticism of the military response against ISIS

In the past, the position adopted by Francisco and Parolin already had tragic consequences. On September 5, 2014, while ISIS terrorists were committing all kinds of atrocities in Iraq and Syria, I wrote an article about some words by Parolin in which the cardinal said: "Political solutions are needed, not violent military ones."

A few days before, Francis had stated: "in these cases, in which there is an unjust aggression, I can only say that it is lawful to 'stop' the unjust aggressor. I underline the verb 'stop', I'm not saying bomb, make war, but stop it." Some statements that seemed to confuse a terrorist army with thousands of men, tanks and missiles, such as ISIS, with a terrorist band in the style of ETA or the Red Brigades.

The genocide perpetrated by ISIS against Christians and Yazidis

Shortly before that statement by Francis, on August 9, 2014, Shlemon Warduni, Auxiliary Bishop of Baghdad, had called for "quick help" to stop the "Christian genocide", adding: "The situation is getting worse every day. The jihadists have no mercy on Christians. They brutally murder them and then steal their money and jewelry."

Two years later it was news the discovery of 72 mass graves with tens of thousands of people murdered by ISIS, a genocide that had victims especially Christians and Yazidis. Just as is happening now after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and after the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel, the extreme left remained silent in the face of this genocide and only raised the voice to criticize the West's military response against ISIS terrorists.

History repeats itself with the Russian invasion of Ukraine

It is dramatic to see the great similarity that exists between this attitude of the extreme left, between that perverse pacifism that benefits terrorists (whether those of ISIS, those of Hamas or those of the Kremlin) and the attitude adopted by Francis. Paradoxically, the Argentine Pope lamented in 2015 the indifference of many to this genocide by ISIS against Christians. It is worth asking in this regard: what difference is there between looking the other way in the face of a genocide and pretending that military means are not used to stop it? What more atrocities would have happened if the West had adopted a pacifist position in 1944 and would have reached a peace agreement with Hitler, leaving him free to continue murdering millions of people?

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Photo: Vatican News. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Sanda See.