Pope Francis again draws criticism with remarks on Russia as Ukraine war rages

Rome — Pope Francis has once more waded into controversy with remarks about Russia amid President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing war in Ukraine. The pontiff drew condemnation with remarks delivered to a gathering of Russian Catholic youth on August 25, whom he urged to be happy with their heritage.

Throughout a video convention with roughly 400 youth in St. Petersburg, Francis urged the children to not “overlook your heritage.”

“You’re heirs of the good Russia — the good Russia of saints, of kings, the good Russia of Peter the Nice, Catherine II, the good, enlightened Russian Empire of a lot tradition, of a lot humanity,” he mentioned. “By no means surrender this heritage.”

Francis made the remarks spontaneously on the finish of an hourlong video handle by which he urged the younger Russians to work towards peace.

“I want you, younger Russians, the vocation to be artisans of peace within the midst of so many conflicts, within the midst of a lot polarization on all sides, which plague our world. I invite you to be sowers, to sow seeds of reconciliation, little seeds that on this winter of struggle is not going to sprout within the frozen floor in the interim, however will blossom in a future spring,” he mentioned. 

The pope’s reward of Russia’s imperialist historical past rapidly drew criticism from Ukraine and elsewhere. 

Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the pinnacle of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, mentioned in a press release that Francis’ phrases exalting Peter the Nice and Catherine II (higher often called Catherine the Nice) had induced “nice ache and apprehension.”  

Saying the pope’s remarks had referred to “the worst instance of utmost Russian imperialism and nationalism,” Shevchuk added: “We worry that these phrases might be understood by some as an encouragement of this nationalism and imperialism which is the true reason for the struggle in Ukraine.”

Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s International Ministry, mentioned in a social media publish that it was “very unlucky that Russian grand-state concepts, which, in reality, are the reason for Russia’s continual aggression, knowingly or unknowingly, come from the pope’s mouth, whose mission, in our understanding, is exactly to open the eyes of Russian youth to the disastrous course of the present Russian management.”

Putin typically alludes to Russia’s imperial history to justify his invasion of Ukraine, and final yr he in contrast himself to Peter the Nice, who expanded the Russian empire by annexing a number of nations.

On Tuesday, the Vatican issued a press release clarifying the pope’s feedback, saying it was “clear from the context by which he pronounced them, the pope supposed to encourage younger folks to protect and promote what’s optimistic within the nice Russian cultural and religious heritage, and definitely to not exalt imperialist logics and authorities personalities, cited to point some historic intervals of reference.”

In the meantime, on the Kremlin, Russian authorities spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday referred to as Francis’ phrases “very gratifying.” 

“The pontiff is aware of Russian historical past and this is superb,” he mentioned. “It has deep roots, and our heritage just isn’t restricted to Peter (the Nice) or Catherine, it’s rather more historical.”

At nearly all of his public appearances since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 2022, Francis has constantly condemned Moscow’s actions as morally unjust, barbaric, repugnant and sacrilegious. However he also suggested final yr that NATO enlargement may have provoked Russia’s invasion, echoing one other justification put forth from early on by the Kremlin.   

In an effort to assist mediate an finish to the battle, the pope appointed Cardinal Matteo Zuppi as his private peace envoy this yr. Zuppi has already travelled on the pope’s behalf to Kyiv, Moscow and Washington.