Pope Francis is preparing for the peace mission in Ukraine. After returning from the intense days in Canada, the Pontiff, instead of resting, he accelerates his diplomatic activity to stop the war. The long-awaited visit of Jorge Mario Bergoglio to Kiev becomes more probable every day - "barring unforeseen events, to always be taken into account in a context of armed conflict", Oltretevere cautiously affirm - and the Vatican and Ukrainian emissaries would be trying to organize it in due time relatively short, "perhaps even before the papal trip to Kazakhstan, therefore before next September 13-15", it is said in the Sacred Palaces. "There is not yet a precise date, which will be established by the Pope", says a monsignor, nor the official status.

This would also avoid a potential diplomatic incident with the entourage of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who would not gladly accept the Pope's arrival after Francis' own summit with the patriarch of Moscow Kirill, scheduled for Nur-Sultan. Kazakh capital, on 14 September, as part of the "Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions". There was no shortage of papal and Vatican distances from Kirill with respect to the support of the Russian invasion, but the landing "in the tormented Ukrainian land after the 'embrace' with one of the main supporters of Vladimir Putin's bombs and missiles it would have inflamed Ukrainian souls instead of fueling a détente," explains a senior prelate of the Sacred Rooms. In this phase of "decisions that can prove to be fundamental for reconciliation, not only in Eastern Europe but on a global level - highlights another prelate - it is necessary to clear any possible misunderstandings". From various quarters in the Vatican, clues indicate that, although still hidden, the complex preparation of the papal expedition is underway.

Yurash, also on Twitter, also spreads "the important words of Pope Francis expressed during the meeting:" I am very close to Ukraine and I want to express this closeness through my visit to Ukraine," from which the Pontiff is convinced to obtain "Positive results", as Monsignor Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States, or the Vatican "Foreign Minister", declared in an interview with TG1 in July.

During the conversation with the diplomatic representative of Kiev, the modalities of the trip, still not defined in detail, would be discussed. Gallagher himself is in the process of "getting to know things better," as he revealed on his return from North America.

However, it transpires from the Holy See that the trip to Ukraine would take place "almost certainly by train, as happened with other European leaders, given that by plane there would be unsolvable security problems". The convoy "could depart from Poland" or even "from Romania".

In the meantime, Pope Francis reiterates on every occasion that to resolve the hostilities "the only reasonable thing to do would be to stop and negotiate", and hopes "that wisdom will inspire concrete steps of peace". A few days ago, in the press conference on the plane from Iqaluit, close to the Arctic Circle, he had stressed his desire to go to the country invaded by the Tsar's army: "I would like to go to Ukraine".

The summit with Zelensky in Kiev and the face-to-face with Kirill in Nur-Sultan could be the decisive junctions in Francis' weaving to obtain a "true" truce leading to complete pacification. Also because the mutual reopening of credit with Kirill - which, from what emerged in the Pope's audience two days ago with the "number two" of the Patriarchate, Metropolitan Antonio, is also considered possible by the Moscow counterpart - would have a crucial significance for Bergoglio not only on the level of ecumenical relations: it could open the door for the other great diplomatic step, for which Francis has been sending out signals for months and has kept the channels of dialogue with the Kremlin open even in the most tense moments: to fly to Putin. The way of the Bishop of Rome to Moscow could therefore pass through Kiev and Nur-Sultan.