Pope Leo XIV has joined the U.S.’s long-standing allies in turning down an invitation to join President Donald Trump’s dubious peace initiative.
The Vatican will not join the president’s so-called “Board of Peace,” a United Nations knock-off that gives Trump the power to handpick the organization’s members, approve the group’s agenda, and manage its finances, the Vatican’s top diplomatic official said Tuesday.
The board was ostensibly created to oversee reconstruction in Gaza, but Trump has made it clear the real scope will be much wider, leading to concerns among Western allies that the organization could undermine the U.N.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin cited those concerns Tuesday as one of the reasons Pope Leo turned down the invitation he received in January.
“At the international level, it should above all be the U.N. that manages these crisis situations,” he told reporters, according to Reuters.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
The Chicago-born Pope Leo has been a fierce critic of Trump’s foreign policy, including his invasion of Venezuela, and has condemned the administration’s mass deportation efforts.
Trump launched his Board of Peace in January during a lackluster ceremony at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that was snubbed by representatives from the G7, the original BRICS countries, and most of the G20.
Instead, the president was joined on stage by a group of strongmen and minor global players, including leaders from Eastern Europe, South America, and several Gulf States.
After Canadian Prime Minister Mark Garney issued a stark warning in Davos about the “rupture in the world order,” Trump announced on social media that he was withdrawing his invitation to Canada to join the board.
At the same time, Trump has invited dictators such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Belarusia’s Alexander Lukashenko.
The board is holding its first meeting Thursday in Washington to discuss Gaza, where Israeli attacks have killed more than 72,000 people, sparked a widespread hunger crisis, and internally displaced the entire population.
Israel says it acted in self-defense after Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 more hostages in a late 2023 attack.
A ceasefire that was coordinated by the U.S. in October has been repeatedly violated, with hundreds of Palestinians and four Israeli soldiers killed.
Pope Leo has repeatedly decried conditions in Gaza and called for peace.
Italy and the European Union are sending representatives to attend Thursday’s meeting as observers but have not joined the board, which is free for the first three years of membership but costs $1 billion for a permanent seat.
Trump is serving as the board’s inaugural chairman and will choose his own successor.
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