Pope Leo XIV declines to join Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’, says UN should lead global crisis response
VATICAN CITY: The Vatican has confirmed it will not participate in President Donald Trump’s newly formed “Board of Peace,” citing concerns about its structure and scope.
Pope Leo XIV had been invited to join the initiative, which was initially designed to oversee reconstruction efforts in Gaza before expanding into a broader global peace body.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin announced the decision on Tuesday, February 17. The board is scheduled to hold its first meeting in Washington later this week.
Vatican officials left 'perplexed' by the proposal
Speaking to reporters after an event, Cardinal Parolin said that the Holy See would not accept the invitation 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,” Parolin said. He added that Vatican officials were left “perplexed” by aspects of the proposal and that several “critical issues” remained unresolved.
“One concern,” he said, “is that at the international level it should above all be the UN that manages these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have insisted.”
The board was originally conceived under Trump’s Gaza plan, which accompanied a fragile ceasefire reached in October 2025.
Its initial mandate focused on supervising temporary governance and reconstruction efforts in Gaza. Trump later expanded its scope, announcing that the body, chaired indefinitely by him, would address global conflicts more broadly.
The Vatican maintains permanent observer status at the United Nations and rarely joins formal international governing bodies.
Pope Leo XIV, the first US-born pontiff and leader of the world’s approximately 1.4 billion Catholics, has emphasized multilateral diplomacy and humanitarian law as central pillars of his papacy.
In a recent diplomatic address, he warned that “war is back in vogue” and stressed that the UN “should play a key role” in resolving international conflicts.
International reaction and broader context
The Vatican is not alone in declining participation. Britain, France and Norway have also opted not to join the initiative. Italy and the European Union have indicated they will attend as observers but have not formally signed on.
Diplomats and policy experts have raised questions about the board’s expanded remit, Trump’s indefinite chairmanship and the potential impact on existing international frameworks.
Some rights experts have argued that a US-led body overseeing governance matters in a foreign territory could resemble a colonial-style arrangement. Others have noted that the board does not include a Palestinian representative.
The board’s first meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 19, in Washington and is expected to address reconstruction efforts in Gaza.
Funding, governance mechanisms and long-term oversight structures are anticipated to be key discussion points.
