Putin and Netanyahu, absent at the funeral of Pope Francis while Beijing is silent
Russia, Israel and China each had unique relationships often complex with the Vatican e The late Pope Francis. While the pontiff’s funeral becomes a silent scenario for diplomatic symbolism, presence or absence, he says a lot about some countries.
Rusia and Israel Will be representeds in him The funeral of Pope FrancisAlthough not for their best leaders, since President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister BenjamÃn Netanyahu will not participate. Instead, Russia will send your Minister of CultureOlga Lyubimova and Israel will be represented by Yaron Zeidman, ambassador of the Holy See.
Putin arrested for an order of the court?
Putin’s absence is considered linked to International Order of the Criminal Court (ICC) Against him, although he praised the Pope Francis as “defender of humanism” In homage after his death.
Although theoretically he ran the risk of being stopped if he set foot in Italy, the probability was not clear: according to the Italian newspaper “Corriere della Sera”, Italian Ministry of Justice The order of the CPI has not yet sent to the Court of Appeal of Rome, a step necessary to validate any detention.
Apparently, The Ministry has not developed five other orders Against high Russian accusations, including Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Russian Commissioner for the rights of the childhood, who faces positions similar to those of Putin.
The relationships between Israel and the Vatican, in its lowest point under Francisco
The absence of Netanyahu occurs in the middle of Relations stretched between Israel and the VaticanEspecially for the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. While many world leaders quickly offered theirs condolences for the death of the PopeThe first official message of the condolences came a few hours after the announcement of the Pope’s death, from the hands of the Israeli president Isaac Herzog.
However, The Netanyahu government waited for three days to issue a statementwhich has been widely interpreted as a diplomatic signal. Pope Francis had repeatedly condemned the war to Gaza and his public criticisms exacerbated tensions with the Israeli government.
China “has no information to share”
China has not yet confirmed its assistanceAnd the possibilities of participation seem scarce. When Reuters asked him if Beijing would have sent a representative, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guo Jiakun, replied: “There is no information to share for the moment”.
Beijing has published a short condolence message Almost 24 hours after the Pope’s death and only after journalists pressed to get an answer. However, during the funeral a prayer will be prayed in Chinese, a nod to the efforts of Pope Francis for the construction of bridges with the Government of Beijing, despite decades of tense relations.
Many observers consider that the search for Dialogue with China is one of its most important political missions. The Holy See does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with China since 1951 and is the only European state that officially recognizes Taiwan, an independent island democracy that Beijing supports his.
The new is probable e Delicate balance of the Holy See in China Be behind Taiwan’s decision to reduce his delegation after the conversations with the Vatican. President Lai Ching-You will not participateAnd a former vice -president will represent Taiwan in his place.
The long dispute that China has maintained for decades With the Vatican he also affects the appointment of the Catholic bishops. Cardinal Joseph Zen, emeritus bishop of Hong Kong and a defender of democracy, received a special permit from a Hong Kong court to travel to Rome on the occasion of the funeral. His passport had been confiscated After his arrest in 2022 in relation to the protests protests.
