American-Born Pope Snubs Trump Invitation To Gaza Board Of Peace

The Vatican will not be joining US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” after Washington specifically invited Pope Leo XIV to join the massive post-war Gaza reconstruction project overseen by the United States and Israel.

The Vatican’s top diplomat argued Tuesday that the United Nations should be left to handle crisis situations, and not a ‘private’ board with a one billion dollar buy-in.

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Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See Secretary of State, told a press briefing that the Vatican is left “perplexed” by some points of the plan – meaning that “critical issues” must be resolved for the Vatican to seriously consider it.

Leo’s invitation was first extended by the US administration last month. The plan is for Trump himself chair the board on an indefinite basis – and Washington’s deep investment involvement has raised eyebrows across the Arab world. Many Arab officials and especially the Palestinians see it as a ‘neo-colonial project’ aimed at further solidifying Israel’s hold over the Strip, and toward finally pushing the native inhabitants out forever.

A chief concern of the Roman Catholic Church “is that at the international level it should above all be the UN that manages these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have insisted.”

The Vatican will not “participate in the Board of Peace because of its particular nature, which is evidently not that of other States” – the statement indicated, while Italy and the European Union will participate as mere observers. 

Some other key European states agree with the Pope’s perspective:

Britain, France and Norway are not signing up. Diplomats, officials and world leaders have expressed concerns over the expanded remit of the board, Trump’s indefinite chairmanship and the potential damage it could cause to the UN’s work.

Vatican critics will accuse the Pope of not signing off to the only ‘path of peace’; however, the Roman Pontiff – going back to Leo’s predecessor Francis – has remained intensely critical of the Israeli military, given the deaths of over 70,000 Palestinians (a number Israeli media has admitted too) throughout the over two-year long Gaza war and crisis.

Francis and now Leo have taken up the cause of Palestinian Christians especially. For example, Francis while Pope had reportedly held a private phone call with Gaza’s main Roman Catholic church on a nightly basis during the heavy Israeli bombardment.

🚨🇻🇦 BREAKING: Pope Leo XIV declines Trump’s Gaza Peace Board; Vatican official says the Holy See “will not participate.” Comes after Cardinal Pizzaballa denounced the plan as a “colonialist operation” deciding for Palestinians.

Source: Vatican News; OSV News

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Israeli bombs had killed Gaza’s Palestinian Orthodox and Catholic Christians just as airstrikes had killed Muslims. Orthodox and Catholic parishes had been hit by airstrikes, and tank mortars, throughout the conflict, killing and maiming dozens of native Christians.

Palestinian Christians descend from the original first-century church community which heard the preaching of Jesus and the Apostles, and so have held special concern for church leaders worldwide. However, American Evangelicals have tended to neglect or dismiss the cries of native Holy Land Christians altogether, defending Israel’s military operations.