Pope Leo Says He Cannot Broker a Peace Deal for Ukraine

Despite some early media chatter about the pope helping broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, the Vatican is unlikely to act as a mediator in the search for a peace deal, Pope Leo XIV said in excerpts from an interview published Sunday.

“I’d make a distinction in terms of the voice of the Holy See in advocating for peace and a role as mediator, which I think is very different and is not as realistic as the first one,” Leo said in the interview, parts of which were published in Crux, a Catholic news outlet.

The pope, who was elected as the first pontiff from the United States in May, said the Vatican was making “great efforts to maintain a position” that did not take “one side or the other" but was “truly neutral.”

“Some things I’ve said have been interpreted in one way or the other, and that’s all right, but I think that the realistic part of it is not primary right now,” he said in the interview with Elise Ann Allen, senior correspondent for Crux.

The pope also spoke out against rising income equality, and its effects on political polarization.

“For example, CEOs that 60 years ago might have been making four to six times more than what the workers are receiving, the last figure I saw, it’s 600 times more than what average workers are receiving,” Leo said.

He noted that Elon Musk could become a trillionaire. Earlier this month, Tesla’s board proposed a pay package that could make Mr. Musk the world’s first trillionaire if he meets a series of ambitious corporate goals.

“What does that mean and what’s that about?” Leo asked. “If that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we’re in big trouble.”

The pope’s remarks came during interviews conducted for an authorized biography written by Ms. Allen that is being published in Spanish this week . English and Portuguese editions will be published early next year.

In his first months as pope, Leo, who was born in Chicago but spent two decades of his career in Peru, said that he had met with numerous world leaders and heads of international institutions and that multinational cooperation was difficult. The United Nations in particular, he said, has not been functioning well at convening nations to solve problems.