Pope Francis admitted that his recent comments on Russia were ill-formed.
That’s according to Reuters.
Speaking to reporters en route from Mongolia, Francis also said he intended to remind young Russians of a great cultural heritage, not a political one.
On August 25, Pope Francis addressed the participants of the 10th All-Russian Day of Catholic Youth in St. Petersburg via video link. There, he called on Russians to never give up their heritage, because “you are the descendants of the great mother Russia so step forward with it.” The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that the Kremlin justifies the killing of Ukrainians and the destruction of Ukraine with precisely such imperialist propaganda, and expressed regret that Russian great-power ideas are voiced by the Pope. The Pope’s speech was also criticized by the head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Sviatoslav, who said that the words of Pope Francis contradict his doctrine of peace.
On August 29, the head of the press service of the Vatican, Matteo Bruni, said the Pope wanted to encourage young people to preserve and develop everything positive that is in the “great Russian cultural and spiritual heritage.” According to him, Francis never intended to glorify imperialist logic and Russian statesmen.
Lithuania summoned the Vatican envoy in the wake of the Pope’s comment.
