Pope’s Ukraine peace envoy blasts war as a ‘pandemic’ that affects everyone

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis’ peace envoy for Ukraine has blasted war as a “pandemic” and said all Christians are called to be peacemakers. Cardinal Matteo Zuppi made his first public comments since being named envoy on Tuesday. He called for the creation of a culture of peace to respond to the “deep anxiety, sometimes unexpressed, often unheard, of peoples who need peace.” Zuppi is the archbishop of Bologna, president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference and a veteran of the Catholic Church’s peace mediation initiatives. He helped mediate the 1990s peace deals ending civil wars in Guatemala and Mozambique and headed the commission negotiating a cease-fire in Burundi in 2000.