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Pope Leo XIV will not join US President Donald Trump's "Peace Board", the Vatican's top diplomat said on Tuesday, adding that the United Nations should be left to deal with crisis situations.
The board, which will be chaired indefinitely by Trump, was originally created to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza. However, its objective has since expanded to make the board a global peacekeeping body.
Pope Leo was invited to join the board last month. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See's Secretary of State, told reporters they would not accept the invitation, saying they were "confused" by some points in the plan and that "critical issues" needed to be resolved.
The cardinal said that one of the Vatican's concerns is that at the international level, above all, it should be the UN that manages these crisis situations.
Parolin's comments came after he participated in an event with the Italian government to mark the anniversary of the Lateran Pacts, which established Vatican City as a sovereign state nearly a century ago.
While Italy and the European Union have said they plan to participate in the board as observers, the cardinal said the Vatican would not participate in the Peace Board due to its special nature, which is obviously not that of other states.
The Vatican is not the only country to have declined invitations. Britain, France and Norway are not signing up. Diplomats, officials and world leaders have expressed concerns about the extension of the board's mandate, Trump's indefinite presidency and the potential damage it could cause to the work of the UN.
Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pope, has made peacemaking a central part of his papacy, warning last month that "war is back in fashion" in a landmark diplomatic speech. Leo stressed that the UN "must play a key role" in addressing conflicts, while insisting on the importance of humanitarian law.
The Pope has made repeated appeals for Gaza since his election, calling for a two-state solution and for the right of Palestinians to live in peace “in their own land.” During the Israel-Hamas war, he called for the release of the October 7 hostages, held dialogue with Israeli leaders, and complained about rising anti-Semitism.
Leo has criticized Trump's policies on immigration, while the Pope's insistence on international humanitarian law contrasts with a president who told The New York Times in January that he feels limited only by "his own morality" while disregarding international law and the post-World War II order.
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