ByREUTERS

The Vatican will not participate in United States President Donald Trump's Gaza Board of Peace initiative, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's top diplomatic official, said on Tuesday, while adding that efforts to handle crises should be managed by the United Nations.

Pope Leo, the first US pope and a critic of some of Trump's policies, was invited to join the board in January.

Under Trump's Gaza plan that led to a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October, the board was meant to supervise Gaza's temporary governance. Trump thereafter said the board, with him as chair, would be expanded to tackle global conflicts. The board will hold its first meeting in Washington on Thursday to discuss Gaza's reconstruction.

Italy, EU decline board invitation

Italy and the European Union have said their representatives plan to attend as observers, as they have not joined 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.

Pope Leo XIV addresses the crowd during a meeting with bishpops, priests consacrated persons and personal workers at the shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, northeast of the capital Beirut, on December 1, 2025.
Pope Leo XIV addresses the crowd during a meeting with bishpops, priests consacrated persons and personal workers at the shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, northeast of the capital Beirut, on December 1, 2025. (credit: Andreas SOLARO / AFP via Getty Images)

"One concern," he said, "is that at the international level it should above all be the United Nations that manages these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have insisted."

Countries have reacted cautiously to Trump's invitation, with experts concerned that the board could undermine the UN. Some of Washington's Middle Eastern allies have joined, but its Western allies have stayed away so far.