Well, bless his heart, nothing wrong with trying. But given that Putin seems like one of the two most Godless people on Earth, we wish Pope Francis luck in his attempt to end the Russian-Ukrainian war. It is nice to see a relatively liberal Pope worry less about giving communion to a faithful Nancy Pelosi and focus more on world peace, even if the effort is likely futile. His heart and the power behind it are in the right place.
From the AP:
He revealed that his knee trouble, which has caused him to use a wheelchair for over a month, was caused by a “small fracture” that occurred when he stepped awkwardly while the knee ligament was inflamed.
He said it is “slowly getting better” with laser and magnet therapy.
Francis was due to have visited Congo and South Sudan this week but had to cancel the trip because doctors said he needed more therapy. He said he was on board to travel to Canada July 24-30 and said he hoped to visit Russia and Ukraine sometime thereafter.
It is not as though Francis is some babe in the woods who believes he can enlighten Vladimir Putin as to the immorality of war. What Francis might be able to do, as the leader of the world’s largest religion, is at least get Putin to consider Russia’s place in the world “after” the war, no matter how it turns out. In many ways, Putin started a war out of vanity and it’s one in which he loses even if he “wins.” Indeed, perhaps he loses more if he “wins.”
Putin will never be allowed back into the “civilized world” again and Francis surely understands that dynamic. What Francis can do, perhaps better than others, is deliver a message to Putin that very few can. That Putin is wrong, that things are not going well and Putin wouldn’t necessarily be better off if they were. In other words, Francis may be one of the few people on Earth without [much] of a political agenda who can slap Putin around a bit, perhaps plant a few seeds of doubt in Putin’s mind, and not end up shot or in Siberia.
If it doesn’t work? Is the world worse off? No, and Francis is enough of a realist to understand.
Perhaps more importantly, Francis may be setting an example for future leaders of the Catholic Church. Why not worry less about what someone might be doing in their bedroom and concentrate more on saving thousands of lives and being a force for good around the globe. This is a man who spends more time lecturing about the dangers of global warming than he does the danger of gay marriage. Some may thank God for that.
Jason Miciak believes a day without learning is a day not lived. He is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is a Canadian-born dual citizen who spent his teen and college years in the Pacific Northwest and has since lived in seven states. He now enjoys life as a single dad of a young girl, writing from the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He loves crafting his flower pots, cooking, while also studying scientific philosophy, religion, and non-math principles behind quantum mechanics and cosmology. Please feel free to contact for speaking engagements or any concerns.