“What is happening in Gaza is unacceptable,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin said in an interview with Vatican News. The Secretariat of State said that although the October 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas was “barbaric,” the Israeli devastation of Gaza is excessive. “International humanitarian law must always apply, and apply to everyone,” he said. Questioned about Russia’s rejection of a proposal for Ukraine peace talks hosted by the Vatican, Cardinal Parolin clarified that the Vatican was not proposing to act as mediator, but simply to provide a setting for negotiations. “In any event,” he added, “it is not important where the negotiations between Russians and Ukrainians—negotiations we all hope for—will take place.” Cardinal Parolin also responded to reports that some leader of the Roman Curia had failed to respond appropriately to abuse complaints in their previous posts as diocesan bishops. (Cardinal Prevost&mdas

Pope Leo XIV made a surprise visit to St. Peter’s Basilica on May 26 as African ambassadors took part in the jubilee pilgrimage for peace in Africa. “How important it is that each and every baptized person feel himself or herself to be called by God to be a sign of hope in the world today,” Pope Leo said at the conclusion of the Mass, at which Cardinal Peter Turkson presided. Pope Leo also spoke of “the great witness that you are all giving and that the continent of Africa gives to the whole world.”