Vatican justifies Pope's statements about "greatness of Russia"
According to a Vatican representative, the Pope encouraged young Russians to "preserve and promote the positive aspects of the great Russian cultural and spiritual heritage."
Matteo Bruni, the Director of the Vatican Press Office, attempted to clarify the words of Pope Francis, who, during a video conference with participants of the All-Russian Catholic Youth Meeting, spoke about the "greatness of Mother Russia." As reported by vaticannews.va, in response to journalists' questions, Bruni stated that the Pope "did not intend to praise imperialistic logic" alongside the emperors Peter I and Catherine II that he mentioned.
"In the words of greeting spontaneously addressed to some young Russian Catholics a few days ago, as is clearly evident from the context in which they were spoken, the Pope wanted to encourage young people to preserve and promote the positive aspects of the great Russian cultural and spiritual heritage. He certainly did not intend to praise imperialistic logic and rulers mentioned by him, in order to point out certain corresponding historical periods," the Vatican official said.
As reported by the UOJ, during an online meeting with young Russian Catholics, the head of the RCC referred to them as "heirs of Great Mother Russia – an enlightened empire, a country of great culture and significant humanity." The Pope urged them to "always remember this heritage" and not to abandon it.
Head of the UGCC, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, stated that the Ukrainian Greek Catholics are waiting for explanations from the Vatican regarding these statements.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, "it is precisely this kind of imperialistic propaganda [...] that the Kremlin uses to justify the killings of thousands of Ukrainians and the destruction of hundreds of Ukrainian cities and villages."
