In April, Pope Francis said the Holy See intends to help facilitate the return of Ukrainian children.
“It is a question of humanity before it is a question of the spoils of war or a displacement caused by war,” the pope said. “All human gestures help, but gestures of cruelty do not help. We must do everything humanly possible.”
Pope Francis in June appointed Zuppi as his special envoy. A Vatican statement before the meeting, which was part of a three-day visit to the nation’s capital, stated that the goal of Zuppi’s meeting was to promote peace and support humanitarian efforts.
Speaking to EWTN before Zuppi’s meeting, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, whom Pope Francis recently named a cardinal, said Zuppi has the full trust of the pope to convey the Vatican’s peace efforts.
“The Holy Father wants to help in the process of peace, and he is fully aware of the difficulties of the situations … He wants to introduce [dialogue] into the discussion,” Pierre said.
According to the White House statement, Biden also “shared his wishes for Pope Francis’ continued ministry and global leadership and welcomed the recent nomination of a U.S. archbishop as cardinal [Archbishop Robert Prevost].”