Pope criticizes US bid to 'break apart' US-Europe alliance

12/13/2025 at 8:14:32 AM

It is also stupidly transparent attempt, which will create rally around the flag effect for EU - Sure EU has issues, but when you have two powers openly claiming that they are out to get you, you are not going to sleep, you will start barricading your house.

Countries are not really intending to leave the EU, not even Hungary, because they know very well that big boys outside will turn them into their toy.

by general1465

12/13/2025 at 12:09:17 AM

Mirror for "Pope criticizes US bid to ‘break apart’ US-Europe alliance, insists on Europe role in Ukraine peace": https://archive.ph/TD5WA

by sipofwater

12/13/2025 at 12:14:35 AM

Is a mirror needed? It's not paywalled for me...

by AnimalMuppet

12/13/2025 at 10:13:34 AM

Even if US seems like it's acting in bad faith here, I rather the Pope not step into politics of this sort and concentrate more on the religious realm. It seems like the papacy would be stepping backwards if it got more involved in politics/geopolitics again, and not simply looking for peace.

by hmm37

12/14/2025 at 2:15:24 AM

You're basically right. But here's an argument to get to a renewed commitment to the good stuff in religion: the catholic church needs accountability if it gets into politics. When things move from blabbing talking points and mere POV from Rome to make it work ... I think things would change. Either they'd retreat and focus on religion or move far more strongly to avoid wars in the first place through religious instruction.

Without accountability blurbs here and there from politicians, pope's, clerics are like what a recent HN article calls being lost in the world of symbols and symbol references i.e. practical nonsense.

You can't really get to know a player unless they've got skin in the game. Short of that it's shadow boxing.

by scrubs

12/13/2025 at 2:17:13 PM

The vatican got some grief for not criticising Hitler and hence making it easier to do holocausts and the like. Maybe they feel they should avoid that sort of thing?

by tim333

12/13/2025 at 3:15:38 PM

Pope did some little Hitler criticising, just not enough and Vatican kept neutrality. Meanwhile catholic priest Tiso became a president and literally presided over killing of Slovak Jews and their persecution.

Today you have catholic priests openly promoting semi fascist politicians and parties. Pope is taking side in that too.

You dont see people who want pope to be super neutral take issue with these. You dont see them take issue with Vance using his catholicism to tie his policies to catholicism.

What US is doing now is not an abtract politics eith no tie to religion - they claim to speak for European christianity. If pope stay silent, it will ve taken as confirmation.

by watwut

12/13/2025 at 12:00:26 PM

Politics and religion are inextricably linked in the West, and as much as I wish it were otherwise Evangelical Christianity is the engine that drives American conservatism and foreign policy and the opinions of religious leaders like the Pope matter to millions of people.

If the Republicans get to claim to be the party of Christian virtue and anointed by God then the Pope weighing in on American policy seems like fair game, even if the US is far more Protestant than Catholic.

And "looking for peace" is no less a political stance than "crusade against the infidels."

by krapp

12/14/2025 at 5:03:56 PM

If religion provides rules for behavior that is inherently political. Welcome to the game

by whattheheckheck

12/13/2025 at 11:44:46 AM

If Pope steered clear of politics, he would be just leaving a space for J.D. Vance who is literally trying to use religion to promote fascism. It is ok for pope to act as counterweight against cristo-fascism.

Klerofascism is a thing and if pope does not want the catholic church going that way, he has to. Trump, J.D.Vance and Steven Miller dont get to pretend they speak for religion.

by watwut

12/13/2025 at 12:00:16 PM

Yes, this is a simple point that possibly warrants exception to the rule that many people seem to dismiss too easily. Whether you agree with it or not, Trump is taking Europe to task for not standing strongly enough for Judeo-Christian values. When he says Europe is facing "civilization erasure", it's not like he is worried about the erasure of Islamic civilization. If you're weaponizing religion for your politics you shouldn't be surprised if the shepherd gets annoyed. It is a delicate dance regardless though.

by sillyfluke

12/13/2025 at 6:02:34 AM

When an aggressor and a super power claim they're offering a "peace process", they're actually colluding to offer a surrender process when they fail to include the defending party in good faith. It's complete bullshit. In diplomacy terms, whenever you hear "peace process" used in news media, mentally substitute "America's demands" because that's the most frequent reality. Trump is in Putin's pocket, the sky is blue, and nothing will change until Kyiv is able to sustain and expand hobbling of Russia's economy while resisting gamified "peace" strategic pauses; UA drone strikes on RU petrochem facilities are getting more effective over time.

by burnt-resistor

12/13/2025 at 7:23:33 AM

I find it interesting that your comment centers around principles and justice. There are thousands of young people who are dying in trenches and blown to pieces by drones each week, and have been for the past three years. You don’t even mention them.

by leobg

12/15/2025 at 9:45:39 AM

Lots of people do seem to respect the primacy of principles and justice. As crazy as it will seem to you, some are even prepared to die for it! Now let me think, would the world be a better place if that weren't the case? if everyone was like leobg?

by alimw

12/13/2025 at 7:33:32 AM

Yes, let's never forget that Russia is a terrorist state.

by madspindel

12/13/2025 at 8:49:24 AM

Perfect solution is Russia stops sending them there and orders them to go home. Ukrainian one then remain home.

And considering Russia does not intend to stop expansion, absent pressure on Russia, they will be eventually dying in Germany.

by watwut

12/13/2025 at 11:48:51 AM

Perfect is the enemy of good.

by naian

12/13/2025 at 3:06:10 PM

Russian expansion is not good. Rewarding genocide is not good.

by watwut

12/13/2025 at 3:17:13 PM

Well, see, we learned nearly a century ago that when someone aggressively expands and you give in to them to maintain "peace in our time", you don't get peace for very long. You wind up with more dead bodies, not less.

Fighting when it's needed leads to more dead this week than abject surrender would cause, but if history is any guide, it leads to fewer dead bodies this decade.

by AnimalMuppet

12/13/2025 at 11:09:04 PM

"Someone"? Are you alluding to NATO or Russia here in the present? Hard to tell.

by rightbyte

12/14/2025 at 11:44:01 AM

"peace in our time" is a famous quote, nearly a century ago: https://www.history.co.uk/this-day-in-history/30-september/c...

What AnimalMuppet shows with the failure of "peace in our time" is how speaking softly only works in combination with a big stick, to paraphrase a different politician from a different continent around a generation earlier than "peace in our time".

by ben_w

12/13/2025 at 2:53:02 PM

Warsluts do not tend to be the one dying in those said wars.

by derelicta

12/13/2025 at 12:30:55 PM

There are a lot of romantics. I wonder if the tone was the same during the 1WW. It is silly.

by rightbyte

12/13/2025 at 10:15:24 AM

[flagged]

by burnt-resistor

12/14/2025 at 9:46:16 AM

I have a doubt if Trump's dehavior is really what is shows. Some of it might be an under the table US-EU artificial deal to promote big corp mutual interests, military expenses and public fear and compliance. I am suspicious after I realised that US bulling to Canada (aka 51th state) was made in order to keep, as a brave resistance, the same political party in government after Trudot's nosedive.

by tsoukase

12/13/2025 at 9:06:33 AM

This isn’t the US vs EU, it’s Trump vs EU. I don’t know anyone that thinks Russia is more of an ally than the EU.

by ta9000

12/13/2025 at 6:19:03 AM

[flagged]

by JohnnyLarue

12/13/2025 at 6:25:43 AM

No way, I didn't know Putin used Hacker News!

by DaSHacka