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Vatican will not participate in Trump's Peace Council

2026-02-18 09:38:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Vatican will not participate in US President Donald Trump's "Peace Board", Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's top diplomatic official, said on Tuesday, adding that efforts to address crisis situations should be managed by the United Nations.

Pope Leo, the first American pope and a critic of some of Trump's policies, was invited to join the board in January.

Under Trump's Gaza plan that led to a fragile ceasefire in October, the board was intended to oversee Gaza's interim government.

Trump then said the board, with him as chairman, would be expanded to address global conflicts. The board will hold its first meeting in Washington on Thursday to discuss rebuilding Gaza.

Italy and the European Union have said their representatives plan to participate as observers, as they have not joined the board.

The Holy See "will not participate in the Peace Board due to its particular nature, which is obviously not that of other states," Parolin said.

"One concern," he said, "is that at the international level, above all it should be the UN that manages these crisis situations. This is one of the points we have insisted on."

Many rights experts say Trump's oversight of a board to oversee the affairs of a foreign territory resembles a colonial structure. The board, created last month, has also faced criticism for not including a Palestinian.

Countries have reacted cautiously to Trump's invitation, with experts concerned that the board could undermine the UN.

Some of Washington's allies in the Middle East have joined in, but its Western allies have so far stayed away.

The ceasefire in Gaza has been repeatedly violated with hundreds of Palestinians and four Israeli soldiers reported killed since its inception in October.

Israel's attack on Gaza has killed over 72,000 people, caused a famine and internally displaced the entire population of Gaza.

Numerous human rights experts, scholars and a UN investigation say this amounts to genocide. Israel calls its actions self-defense after Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in an attack in late 2023.

Pope Leo has repeatedly criticized conditions in Gaza. The pope, leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, rarely joins international boards. The Vatican has an extensive diplomatic service and is a permanent observer at the United Nations./ CNA