Cardinal Zuppi Begins Mission in Russia

Cardinal Zuppi, the Pope's special envoy on humanitarian issues and president of the Italian Bishops' Conference, commenced a three-day mission in Russia on September 28. This marks his third mission in Moscow since June 2023 and October 2024, following his visit to Ukraine in July, where he also visited a Russian soldier prisoner camp in the Lviv region.

The core themes of Cardinal Zuppi's humanitarian mission are the issues surrounding Ukrainian and Russian prisoners of war, as well as children displaced from their homes and families. He confirmed to Russian media agency TASS, "Meetings with Russian officials are scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. All of this falls under the category of humanitarian mission, initially entrusted to me by Pope Francis and later confirmed by Pope Leo XIV. My task is to support efforts regarding children, prisoner exchanges, and civilian issues arising from the conflict."

Cardinal Zuppi also stated, "In the initiated dialogue environment, we are assessing all appeals from Ukraine and Russia. Aware of the suffering caused by war, we desire to further develop this dialogue and strive to contribute to the end of the conflict."

Prior to this mission, Archbishop Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See, promoted the mission at the end of August after his visit to Russia following a mission in Ukraine at the end of July.