Cardinal Parolin: Scenario of EU military intervention in Ukraine 'frightening'

Source: Vatican News

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State has expressed his concern over French President Emanuel Macron's suggestion that Europe could send ground troops to Ukraine. On Monday Mr Macron announced new steps to boost Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion, saying he cannot rule out Western troops being deployed to achieve Europe's goal of defeating Moscow.

Speaking at the Centesimus Annus Foundation International Prize award ceremony at the Vatican on Tuesday, Cardinal Parolin said: "It's a truly frightening scenario, because it would bring about the escalation that we have always tried to avoid from the beginning. It's a scenario that I wouldn't call apocalyptic, because perhaps that's an exaggerated word at this moment, but certainly it's terrifying."

Asked about the possible reasons for Mr Macron's suggestion, he said it is probably due to the fact that after two years of war there is still "no prospect of a solution on the horizon, be it military or negotiated." He added: "It would be ideal to really find a way to get the two sides to start talking and dialoguing. I believe that if we talk, a solution will be found."

"Various types of solutions have been proposed the important thing is that there is the will to implement them."

Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Vatican Secretary of State confirmed that there have been no developments in diplomatic contacts with Israel, reiterating that what the Holy See wants is for dialogue to start: "Our concern is to find a way to have the hostages released, first of all, for humanitarian assistance which continues to be very difficult. So the only path is that of a ceasefire", he insisted.

Cardinal Parolin focused his closing keynote speech at the event on the theme of fraternity. "The awareness of our vulnerability opens us to the experience of otherness - he said - which disposes us to the gift of fraternity and to the encounter with God. In becoming close to our brothers we will rediscover ourselves, we will rediscover our most authentic humanity".

"Vulnerability is not only an ontological limit " - Cardinal Parolin said. "It is also our openness towards the infinite, our need for love and salvation, and our profound need to be with others. In this sense, the ethics of vulnerability enhances sensitivity and tenderness, to reach a true spiritual maturity in which even the miseries of the soul are welcomed with courage and compassion."

What we need, the Secretary of State remarked is to give comfort to the marginalized, despite our fragility and our limits.

Today, however, the "technocratic system, in which investments in technology influence political choices, favours efficiency and the culture of waste". The search for profit at any cost, he said, "is the root cause of financial speculation, the arms trade, environmental pollution and consequently the social injustices that cause inequality and marginalization."

Cardinal Parolin went on to express his concern that "artificial intelligence could amplify existing inequalities, perpetuating biases present in the current data used to train algorithms." He warned that this could lead to unfair or discriminatory decisions in areas such as employment, financing systems, healthcare, education, justice, immigration and international relations."

Hence, he said there was a need to change the economic structures "which still generate poverty, exclusion and dependence" by encouraging a form of international solidarity capable of eradicating one of the deepest and most ancient roots of financial imperialism, the control of States' debts. Debt should be invested in social, educational and health programmes as urged by Pope Francis who asks for courage to overcome the logic of exploitation, and to create new models of development, in which the poor are an integral part of the social fabric.