On August 25, as part of the All-Russian Meeting of Catholic Youth in St. Petersburg, there was a teleconference with Pope Francis. During the teleconference, Pope Francis stated: "Never forget about your heritage. You are heirs of great Russia: great Russia of saints, rulers, the great Russia of Peter the Great, Catherine II, that great, enlightened empire, a country of great culture and great humanity. Never abandon this heritage; you are heirs of the great mother Russia, go forward with it. And thank you. Thank you for your way of being, for your way of being Russians."
Pope Francis has made ambiguous statements about the war in Russia against Ukraine on multiple occasions, for which he has faced criticism, and for the most part, it is justified. After the start of the full-scale war, the Pontiff prayed for peace in Ukraine multiple times. However, it took him a month from the beginning of the Russian aggression to acknowledge that Ukraine had come under attack. But he did not specify who exactly attacked it. Pope Francis has a negative view of supplying weapons to Ukraine, which also weakens the authority of the Vatican and its influence, not only politically but also within the Christian world.
Negative emotions in Ukraine, which is fighting for its freedom, were stirred by the idea of involving Ukrainian and Russian women (to bear the cross) in the procession on Good Friday, on the eve of Catholic Easter, and by Pope Francis's inability to personally place responsibility for the unleashed war on Putin. As for his appeals to Russian Catholics during the All-Russian Meeting of Catholic Youth in St. Petersburg, they are ill-considered and fuel the neo-colonial ambitions of the aggressor country, although they should have categorically condemned such a way of "being Russians."
After all, the bloodshed that has lasted for over 18 months is an imperial war, which is emphasized by Russia's leadership openly denying Ukraine's political sovereignty and the rights of Ukrainians to exist as an independent nation. For Ukraine, this is a war for its ultimate independence, while from Russia's side, it is an attempt to expand into Ukraine. The issue lies in the fact that Russia has not yet determined what it represents, whether it can exist in a format other than imperial. All of this is reflected in a phenomenon characteristic of Russian politics, namely imperial nationalism. Any form of imperialism in the modern world poses a threat of aggressive war and contradicts the Christian ethics of peace and justice.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church asserts that the mention by the Pontiff of "great Russia, Peter the Great, Catherine II, that great, enlightened empire, a country of great culture and great humanity" is the worst example of imperialism and extreme Russian nationalism. According to the head of the UGCC, there is a danger that these words may be perceived as support for the nationalism and imperialism that have caused the war in Ukraine. The UGCC statement also points out that the examples given by the Pope actually contradict his views on peace, as he has consistently condemned any form of imperialism in the modern world and warned of the dangers of extreme nationalism, emphasizing that it is the cause of "a third world war in parts."
Comments