The transition from Shrove Tuesday’s festivities into Ash Wednesday’s fasting can often be stark and somewhat unsettling, serving as a time of change on many levels in the Church. As my Catholic Herald colleague Clement Harrold wrote, the good news of Christianity cannot be understood without “the recognition that there is something wrong with us”, a recognition which forces personal change during Lent.
Over the past few days in Rome, this stark change and consequent inner reflection have been notable in varied ways. First, the Vatican Secretary of State issued a cold, clear rebuttal to the American invitation to join President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza. The Holy See “will not participate in the Board of Peace because of its particular nature, which is evidently not that of other states,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin informed journalists on Monday. Instead, he “insisted” that the United Nations be the body “that manages these crisis situations”, although the Board is required to report its activity to the UN.
