Speaking at Coopera 2022—an Italian conference devoted to development—Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s Secretary of State, said that “war is at our doorstep” and that “the conflict in Ukraine like other conflicts shows us how war aggravates the tragedy of hunger and produces underdevelopment.”

Referring to the Russian blockade of Ukrainian grain, Cardinal Parolin said that “we can unblock the departure of the grain and distribute it to those in need” and that “it is important not to use grain as a political and military weapon.”

Commenting on arms shipments to Ukraine, he added, “Certainly peace cannot be constructed with weapons.”

The prelate also said that “5 P’s”—“people, peace, planet, prosperity, partnership”—are five paths of “progress towards a social and political order whose soul is social charity.” These “5 P’s” shaped the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.