Vatican declines to join Trump-led Peace Council on Gaza

The Vatican has announced it will not participate in the “Peace Council” initiative launched by US President Donald Trump to oversee post-war arrangements in Gaza.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s secretary of state and chief diplomat, said on Tuesday that the Vatican would not join the body, citing its distinctive role in international affairs.

“We will not participate in the Peace Council because of its unique nature, which is of course different from that of other countries,” Parolin said. He added that the Vatican believes international crises should be managed through the United Nations.

“One of our concerns is that, at the international level, it should be the United Nations that manages these crises, and this is one of the points we insist on,” he said.

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Pope Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, reportedly received an invitation in January to join the council.

Under President Trump’s plan, which contributed to a fragile ceasefire in Gaza last October, the Peace Council was intended to assume temporary oversight of the territory’s administration. Trump, who chairs the council, later announced that its mandate would expand to address global conflicts more broadly.

The council is scheduled to hold its first meeting in Washington on Thursday, with reconstruction in Gaza expected to top the agenda.

Italy and the European Union have said they will attend the session as observers, though they are not formal members of the body.

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