Francis should learn from Urban

Pope Urban II had a clarity of vision that’s beyond today’s prelates. He kept things simple, without encumbering straightforward issues with wishy-washy casuistry.

The Holy Land was in the hands of Muslims who abused Christians and threatened the survival of the eastern churches. The only solution was to defeat Muslims and reclaim the Holy Land, to which end Urban began to preach the First Crusade.

Everyone taking part, he declared, would be doing God’s work. Hence all his past sins would be forgiven – going on that death-defying mission was redemptive.

Urban thought in the binary categories of good and evil, as behoved his job. The man currently occupying his throne, Pope Francis, eschews such primitive simplifications. Instead his mind draws inspiration from the nuanced thinking of the secular intelligentsia.

Thus stimulated, His Holiness shared his geopolitical ideas in an interview he gave to the Swiss broadcaster RSI. The interview was recorded last month, and it’s scheduled to be aired on 20 March.

The Pope correctly identified the on-going wars in the Ukraine and the Middle East as today’s key events of international politics. In both cases, he kept the issue of good and evil open-ended, without once offering any moral judgement of the warring sides.

Thus abandoning the language of his day job, His Holiness gave his audience the benefit of vox DEI, as in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. Implicitly, he seems to believe, there is nothing to choose between the two sides in either conflict. Therefore the sole concern should be saving lives.

And if the only way to achieve that purpose is unfurling the white flag and capitulating, then so be it. Abject surrender is a sign of courage and strength, explained His Holiness in language that would have made George Orwell envious.

That was a daring foray into the field of semantics, consonant with the modern tendency to use words in a meaning contrary to the dictionary definition. Lest you may accuse me of twisting the pontiff’s words, here’s what Francis said about the war in the Ukraine:

“I think that he is stronger who sees the situation, who cares about the people, who has the courage of the white flag to conduct negotiations. [My emphasis: I just love this turn of phrase]… ‘Negotiations’ is a brave word. When you see you are losing and things aren’t going well, you must have the courage to negotiate. Aren’t you mortified of how many deaths will ensue otherwise?… Don’t be ashamed to start negotiations before the situation gets even worse.”

Having analysed the situation on the frontline, His Holiness reached the conclusion that the Ukraine is definitely losing – something claimed by few military commentators this side of the Kremlin.

Yet it’s not just his strategic perspicacity that impresses me no end. His Holiness effectively tells the Ukrainian government that, because the war is lost, they must display “the courage of the white flag” to negotiate the best terms of surrender.

First, the few setbacks suffered by the Ukrainian army are as far from defeat as their anterior advances were from victory. Second, surely His Holiness must be familiar with the notion of martyrdom. Some great saints in his religion have chosen death over surrender in defence of what they saw as a noble cause.

If Francis is unfamiliar with Catholic hagiography, a brief visit to the Vatican library could plug the more gaping holes in his education. And perhaps talking to someone who understands such matters will help him to realise that the Ukrainians are dying so that Europe may live. They are defending us all against the onslaught of barbaric hordes – the Ukrainians are today’s equivalent of the Europeans who died to stop the Muslim invasion from the south or the Mongol offensive from the east.

Pontificating, as it were, on the subject so dear to Urban’s heart, Pope Francis had similar ideas on Israel trying to forestall her annihilation at the hands of Hamas savages and the Muslim states behind them. Israel too must negotiate with those who wish to wipe it off the face of the world.

“Negotiations,” explained Francis, “aren’t capitulation. It takes courage not to drive one’s country to suicide.”

Now, neither Zelensky nor Netanyahu has rejected the idea of negotiations in principle. Both, however, refuse to accept the status quo as the starting point. Both leaders will only negotiate on the terms that would make their countries safe in the foreseeable future.

And both the Ukraine and Israel, for all their real or mythical faults, are allies of the West. For Muslim aggression and terrorism are capable of igniting the whole world, as are Putin’s unequivocally stated plans to recreate the Soviet empire.

The Pope should draw his inspiration from Urban II, not Neville Chamberlain. It would be in keeping with his mission if he spoke ex cathedra about the West uniting behind its two vanguards, Israel and the Ukraine.

It would be consistent with his remit to call on Western governments to provide the assistance the Ukraine and Israel need to prevail over their enemies and ours. Instead the Pontiff is making general pacifist noises that play into the hands of both Russia and Hamas.

Perhaps someone ought to remind His Holiness of the bellicosity he showed early in his papacy, when he said that if anyone “speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched.” I’m not sure popping someone in the snout for such a minor transgression is consistent with the letter of doctrine, but it does evoke the memory of warrior popes.

The current interview is more reminiscent of Kremlin propaganda on the Ukraine and Muslim propaganda on Israel. Now, that definitely has little to do with doctrine, either its letter or its spirit.