Pope did not intend to glorify Russian imperialism in speech, Vatican says

LONDON — Pope Francis did not intend “to exalt imperialist logic,” the Vatican claimed Tuesday, following a speech delivered on Friday drew criticism for references to Russia’s imperialist earlier.

“In the off-the-cuff greetings to some young Russian Catholics in latest times, as is clear from the context in which he pronounced them, the Pope meant to really encourage young persons to preserve and encourage all that is beneficial in the fantastic cultural and Russian spirituality, and certainly not to exalt imperialist logic and federal government personalities, cited to indicate some historical intervals of reference,” the Vatican’s press officer claimed, in Google-translated opinions carried by official outlet Vatican Information.

The Roman Catholic church leader faced backlash soon after he explained to a team of younger persons by means of video address to try to remember that they are the heirs of earlier czars, some of whom President Vladimir Putin has beforehand referred to when justifying the invasion of Ukraine.

“You are heirs of the great Russia — the great Russia of the saints, of kings, the good Russia of Peter the Terrific, of Catherine II, the great Russian empire, cultured, so significantly lifestyle, so substantially humanity,” Pope Francis reported in the Friday speech, as translated and transcribed by NewsFromUkraine.

“You are the heirs of the good mom Russia. Go ahead … And thank you. Thank you for your way of remaining Russian,” he additional.

The speech was strongly criticized by Ukrainian officers.

“It is specifically with these types of imperialist propaganda, the ‘spiritual ties’ and the ‘need’ to help save ‘great Mother Russia’ that the Kremlin justifies the killing of countless numbers of Ukrainians and the destruction of Ukrainian metropolitan areas and villages,” Oleg Nikolenko, spokesperson for the Ukrainian International Ministry, mentioned on Fb on Monday.

Russian officials meanwhile welcomed the religious leader’s responses.

“The Kremlin welcomes the terms of the Pope of Rome about the legacy of excellent Russia, it is fantastic that the pontiff knows Russian record,” spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in his everyday update on Tuesday, as reported by condition media agency Tass on Telegram, in accordance to a Google translation.

The pope delivered the well prepared speech in his indigenous Spanish, in advance of making these off-script reviews in Italian.

The Pope has beforehand frequently called for a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine and spoken versus Russia’s steps in the conflict. In Might, he satisfied with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the Kyiv chief afterwards claimed the pair talked over how to carry Russia’s war in Ukraine to a tranquil conclusion. Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to the spiritual chief for “his personalized notice to the tragedy of millions of Ukrainians.”