On Tuesday, the Vatican aimed to defuse a row with Ukraine after Kyiv blamed Pope Francis for spreading “imperial propaganda” in a message to young Catholic Russians.
According to a video posted the pope told the collected group in a Catholic church in St. Petersburg that you are kids of great Russia, of great saints, of kings, of Peter the Great, of Catherine II.
Oleg Nikolenko, the spokesman for Ukrainian foreign ministry said that the speech of the pope was “very unfortunate.”
He said that it is with this sort of imperialist propaganda, ‘spiritual staples’ and the ‘requirement’ to protect ‘great Mother Russia’, that the Kremlin explains the murder of thousands of Ukrainians and the devastation of Ukrainian cities and villages.
It is very sad that Russian great-power views, which are, in fact, the reason for Russia’s regular combativeness, are intentionally or unintentionally coming from the pope’s mouth, he added.
Matteo Bruni, the spokesman for the Vatican commented on Tuesday telling the pope’s “off the cuff” comments were planned to “motivate young people to maintain and elevate what is positive in Russia’s significant cultural and spiritual roots.
The statements were not planned to promote imperial reason and government personalities.
The Vatican’s official media portal reported on the pope’s message to celebrate Russian Youth Day on August 25, but did not contain a video or the detailed quotes Kyiv opposed.
Russia greeted the remarks of the pope.
The pope knows the history of Russia and that’s very good, Dmitry Peskov the spokesman of the government said.
