The Vatican has announced that it would not take part in US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace despite an invitation issued in January to Pope Leo XIV to join the board.
The Holy See "will not participate in the Board of Peace because of its particular nature, which is evidently not that of other states," said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the top Vatican diplomat.
The "Board of Peace" was initially meant to supervise Gaza's temporary governance following the latest conflict there, but Trump has since said that the body, with him as chair, would be expanded to deal with global conflicts.
While announcing that the Vatican would not participate, Parolin stressed that the United Nations was the body currently entrusted to deal with world crises.
"For us, there are ... some critical issues that should be resolved, let's say," he said.
"That is, at the international level, it is above all the UN that manages these crisis situations," he said. "This is one of the, one of the points on which we have insisted."
Since taking office, Pope Leo, the first US pontiff, has outspokenly criticized some of Trump's policies.
At least 19 countries have signed the founding charter of the "Board of Peace" since Trump launched the initiative at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January. They include Argentina, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, Italy and the European Union have said their representatives plan to attend as observers, as they have not joined the board.
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