2023-08-28 01:11:49
O Pope Francisco came under fire in Europe after declaring to a group of young Russians that they are “heirs of the great Russia”.
“You are the heirs of Great Mother Russia“, said Francis, during a videoconference with a group of young Russian Catholics. “Thank you for your way of being, for your way of being Russians.”
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The meeting was held in Saint Petersburg, in the Basilica named after Catherine of Alexandria. Roman Catholics in Russia they are less than 0.5% of the population.
Before the blessing, the pontiff concluded the meeting by addressing these words to the young people who had arrived from all over Russia to hear your message.
“Never forget your heritage,” Francis said. “You are the heirs of the great Russia: the great Russia of saints, of rulers, the great Russia of Peter I, Catherine II, that empire — great, enlightened, [um império] of great culture and great humanity. Never renounce this legacy, you are the heirs of Great Mother Russia, continue along this path. And thank you. Thank you for your way of being, for your way of being Russians.”
Saint Petersburg meeting continuation of Journey of Lisbon
The St. Petersburg meeting was thought up by the Vatican as an ideal continuity with the world youth day this year, which took place in early August in Lisboa, Portugal.
On that occasion, the pontiff urged young people to be “like the rain to the earth” and not be afraid to fight for peace and justice.
During the meeting in Saint Petersburgthe pontiff invited young Russians to “be artisans of the world in the midst of so many conflicts and polarizations”.
“I invite you to be sowers of reconciliation, the small seeds will not yet germinate in the frozen ground in this military winter, but will blossom in spring.”
Pope Francis criticized for his words
After these words, the Pope Francisco was heavily criticized in Europa it is us USAsince on other occasions he showed ambiguity in condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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In May of last year, in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Serathe pope stated that “perhaps the barking of the I’ll take it na porta da Russia compelled Putin to trigger” the war.
At that time he was also the target of harsh criticism. The statements about “Great Mother Russia” recalled the document published by Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 12, 2021.
In the text, whose title was “On the historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians”, Putin proclaimed that Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians were part of a single nation. and that the Western would be trying to separate them.
According to the Russian president, these three peoples are children of a single root, the Russian, corrupted by contact with the Western Latin and Roman Catholicism.
A vision that denies Ukrainian and Belarusian identity its own status culture, downgrading them to “impure” versions of the most genuine Russian identity.
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Many observers consider that text as a rhetorical announcement of the necessary “Russian imperial restoration”, whose first step would be the invasion of Ukraine, which took place a few months later.
“Great Mother Russia” is therefore an expression that legitimizes the imperial ambitions of Russia. Moscow.
Since the beginning of the conflict, the Vatican has tried to offer itself as a moderator between the Russia it’s at Ukraine, unsuccessfully. Especially because of the ambiguities demonstrated by the Pope Francisco.
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