Vatican weighs Trump's Board of Peace invitation but calls for respect for international law

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — The Holy See is weighing how to respond to the Trump administration’s invitation to join the Board of Peace, an initiative originally aimed at rebuilding Gaza that President Donald Trump now hopes to expand into a broader peacemaking coalition.

“We have also received this invitation, and the pope has seen it, and we are deciding what to do,” the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, told journalists on Wednesday (Jan. 21). “I think it’s a matter that needs some time to be considered in order to give an answer,” he added, saying there were concerns for the respect of the international rule of law.

The organization, which some have suggested could serve as a substitute for the United Nations Security Council as the United States shifts away from participation in multilateral entities, will accept members for a three-year term, but countries that contribute $1 billion may join as permanent members. 

“We won’t participate from an economic perspective; we are not capable of doing that,” Parolin said after meeting with students at the Observatory for Independent Thinking in Rome.

Trump currently serves as the chairman of the board and is a member for life, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly accepted an invitation. Other countries that have acknowledged receiving invitations include Argentina, Belarus, Canada, Australia, Egypt, Hungary, Pakistan, Jordan, Turkey, Israel and India, but they haven’t announced whether they will join. Several European countries have declined, including the United Kingdom, Sweden and Norway.

As tensions between the Trump administration and Europe escalate amid a U.S. push to acquire Greenland, the Holy See has repeatedly appealed for the respect of international laws and treaties. Referring to the rift between the U.S. and its allies in Europe, Parolin said that it “creates an environment that worsens the international situation, which is already (tense).”

Pope Leo XIV and Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, left, leave the Quirinale Presidential Palace in Rome, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

“I think it’s important to eliminate tensions: address the controversial issues but without getting into contentious or tensions,” Parolin said, adding the reminder to “respect the rules of the international community.”

Parolin, who has served as secretary of state, the Vatican’s highest office after the pope, since the beginning of Pope Francis’ tenure in 2013, has been active and outspoken in world affairs in recent months. On Saturday, he commented on the situation in Greenland, saying “there cannot be forceful solutions,” and lamented the loss of multilateral efforts among nations that arose in the wake of the Second World War.

“Everyone thinks they can resolve difficult situations or make their positions prevail only through the use of force. This is unacceptable, and it will increasingly lead to a conflict, a war within the international community,” he said.

According to a Jan. 9 report by The Washington Post, Parolin, who was the papal representative in Venezuela before becoming secretary of state, attempted to help the country’s leader, Nicholás Maduro, escape the country before the United States’ military intervention in early January. 

“We always support a peaceful resolution,” Parolin said Wednesday. “We had attempted, as some newspapers reported, to find a solution that would avoid any bloodshed, perhaps even attempting an agreement with Maduro and other regime officials, but this was not possible.” Parolin voiced a hope for a democratic and financially stable recovery of Venezuela.

His comments followed a statement by three U.S. cardinals warning against a U.S. foreign policy marked by “polarization, partisanship, and narrow economic and social interests.” The Most Rev. Timothy Broglio, head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, said U.S. military troops could conscientiously object to a possible invasion of an allied nation such as Greenland.

Pope Leo XIV also made an appeal for peace during his weekly general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday, “at a time in history that seems marked by a growing loss of the value of human dignity and in which war has come back into fashion.”