(LifeSiteNews) — The Holy See has declined President Donald Trump’s invitation to join the Board of Peace, the stated aim of which is the governance of global areas affected by conflict.
On Wednesday, February 17, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin told reporters that the Holy See “will not participate in the Board of Peace due to its particular nature, which is clearly not that of other states.”
When he was asked about Italy’s participation on the Board of Peace as an observer, Parolin said some of the points of the board “leave one somewhat perplexed.”
READ: Trump announces ‘Board of Peace’ to rival UN, oversee Gaza’s transition away from Hamas
“There are critical points that need to be explained. The important thing is that an attempt is being made to provide an answer,” he stated.
“However, for us, there are some critical issues that need to be resolved,” the cardinal said, stressing that “one concern is that, at the international level, it is primarily the U.N. that manages these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have emphasized.”
After the U.S. invited Pope Leo XIV and the Vatican to join the newly established Board of Peace, Parolin said on January 21 that the Vatican was evaluating whether to join Trump’s initiative. Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, later weighed in on the Catholic Church’s participation, arguing that the initiative represents “a colonialist operation” and therefore “the task of the Church is not this.”
READ: Cardinal Pizzaballa slams US-backed ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza as ‘colonialist operation’
More than 25 countries, including Hungary and Argentina, have joined the board, which is intended to help settle conflicts around the world. However, several countries, including the U.K., New Zealand, Germany, and France, have rejected the invitation.
The Board of Peace is seen as an attempted competitor to the United Nations, prompting outrage among liberals and globalists.
In recent decades, the U.N. has become one of the most powerful global adversaries of Christian morals, with its promotion of unrestricted abortion and contraception, depopulation efforts, homosexuality, and transgenderism – including “gender transitions” for children, obscene “sexual education,” and other anti-life and anti-family practices and ideologies. The international body has repeatedly pressured countries to abandon pro-life and pro-family policies.
The U.N. has also strongly pushed radical climate policies and COVID mandates and worked to undermine marriage and parental rights, including in education and medical decisions, freedom of speech, and religious liberty.
Conservatives have long criticized the U.N. for threatening countries’ sovereignty and failing to fulfill its stated mission of advancing global peace.
Trump has suggested that the Board of Peace may replace the United Nations, saying on Tuesday, “The U.N. just hasn’t been very helpful.”
Trump announced plans for the board last fall as part of his peace proposal for Gaza but has said that the initiative will focus on other regions as well.