Francis did not mention President Vladimir Putin in his remarks in Malta. However, the reference was made when he stated that “some potentate had unleashed nuclear war on the entire world in an “infantile, destructive aggression.”
Francis said that he had believed that invasions of other nations, street fighting inhumanes and atomic threats were distant memories. He was speaking to Maltese officials at the beginning of a weekend trip to the Mediterranean island nation.
Francis has not yet referred to Russia or Putin by his name. This is in line with the Vatican’s tradition that does not call out aggressors and keeps open dialogue options. The pope’s Saturday criticism of the warlord was a new level.
He said, “Once more, some potentate is sadly caught up with anachronistic nationalist claims of interest. whereas ordinary people feel the need to create a future that will either not be shared or be shared.”
Francis said to reporters on his way to Malta that a visit to Kyiv was possible, but no dates or confirmation has been given. Francis was invited by the mayor of Kiev to visit the capital as a messenger for peace with other religious figures on March 8. However, Francis recently warned residents of healthy cities that Russian hostilities are still threatening their city.
Francis said that the war had hurt his heart so much, that he forgets sometimes about the pain in the knees. Francis has suffered from a strained ligament in the right knee for several months. The swelling became so severe that the Vatican organized for a tarmac elevator for Francis to take him off the plane to Malta on Saturday. His limp was even more severe Saturday.
Originally scheduled for May 2020. The Malta visit was supposed to be focused on migration. This is due to Malta’s central role in Europe’s migration debate. With the forced exodus from Ukraine of more than 4 million refugees, the issue gained even more importance. Francis’ remarks were focused on the perilous Mediterranean migration route as well as Europe’s flawed migration policies for welcoming people fleeing poverty, war and conflict.
Francis, who was accompanied by the president of Malta, denounced the “sordid” agreements the European Union made with Libya in order to return migrants. He also said that Europe should show humanity by welcoming them. He demanded that the Mediterranean be a “theater for solidarity” and not a portent of a tragic civilizational shipwreck.
Francis was referring specifically to the EU’s programme to train Libya’s Coast Guard, which monitors Libya’s coastline for migrants and returns the refugees to shore. It was strongly supported by Italy and other Mediterranean front-line countries in an effort to stop the flow of hundreds upon thousands of desperate migrants every year.
Human rights groups, however, have condemned the EU funded program as a violation for migrants’ rights. They also documented gross abuses in Libyan detention centers. German announced this week that its military would no more provide training for the Libyan coastguard due to its “unacceptable” and sometimes illegal treatment of migrants.
Francis condemned Libya’s detention facilities as concentration camps and he also shamed the EU Saturday for complicity in their abuses.
He said, “Civilized nations cannot approve for their own interests sordid deals with criminals who enslave others human beings.”
Malta, which is the smallest European Union country, with half a million people, has been at the forefront of the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean. It has often come under fire for refusing rescue ships to dock. A German aid group tried to get port for 106 migrants that had been rescued at sea, but the ship headed towards Sicily.
Malta has often called on its larger European neighbours to share more of the burden of receiving refugees.
Francis has often echoed this call and linked it to Saturday’s welcome that the Maltese gave Apostle Paul. According to biblical accounts, Paul was shipwrecked off Malta in A.D 60 on his way to Rome, and was treated with unusual kindness by the islanders.
Later that day, Francis traveled by catamaran ferry from Malta to Gozo. He made his own Mediterranean seafaring tradition and celebrated a prayer meeting at Malta’s national shrine. Two Maltese churchmen, who are important aides to the Vatican’s Vatican, accompanied Francis on the hour-long journey. He sat on a white chair at deck and was welcomed with thundering canons when the ship arrived in Gozo’s port.
