Vatican Cardinal Parolin urges global unity for Ukraine peace, highlights US, Europe, China roles at Rome children’s hospital event.
Newsroom (28/10/2025, Gaudium Press ) Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, called Tuesday for a unified international push to end the war in Ukraine, emphasizing that “everyone’s contribution is truly needed to take a few steps towards peace.”
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital’s designation as a Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization, and Healthcare (IRCCS), Parolin highlighted the roles of the United States, Europe, China, and other global players.
“The involvement of the United States is certainly needed, and we hope that Europe will take on a more prominent role,” he said. “China, too, has something to say — in fact, President Trump is currently in China and the Far East to address this point.”
Parolin acknowledged the complexity of achieving a truce, noting that “if we knew [the steps], we would already have taken them.” He expressed cautious optimism about behind-the-scenes negotiations, saying, “I believe that some negotiations are underway, perhaps not publicly,” and urged hope that they would yield results.
The cardinal’s remarks came one day after he received Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in audience at the Vatican. Describing the October 27 meeting as “a good encounter” in which “each side was able to express its own point of view,” Parolin said efforts were underway to narrow differences. When pressed on whether their positions remained far apart, he replied: “We are trying to bring them closer and closer.”
Parolin also praised the Bambino Gesù Hospital as an “excellence” in Catholic and Italian healthcare, citing its treatment of children from conflict zones including Palestine. “Bambino Gesù is doing great humanitarian work,” he said, adding that such efforts — along with prisoner exchanges — could serve as “a preparatory step towards peace.”
The Holy See, he stressed, remains “deeply committed” to humanitarian diplomacy, a tradition dating to the First World War.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican News
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