Pope Francis justified this Monday that he was not praising Russian imperialism, but urging “to preserve the heritage” and “the transmission of Russian culture” when he recently praised “Great Russia”, causing great discomfort in Kiev.
Speaking at a press conference about the flight on which he returned from his visit to Mongolia, the pope addressed the controversy sparked by his remarks when he addressed a group of Russian students, who Kyiv authorities say were planning to “repress Russian imperialism.” spread. said Efe news agency.
“In a dialogue with young Russians, I finally sent a message that I always repeat: that they take care of their heritage. It’s the same thing I say everywhere: the need for a dialogue between grandparents and grandchildren. That was the message.” clarified.
The pope added that he referred to “Great Russia” to underline his message, because “Russian heritage is very good and very beautiful and it is enough to think about the field of literature and music until you find the writer.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky, who speaks of humanism”.
Francis acknowledged that the third part of his speech, in which he repeated the speech on inheritance and referred to Great Russia “may not have been very happy”, but indicated that “it was not a reference to the geographical plan, but rather cultural”, also when he was referred to as Peter the Great and Catherine of Russia, a matter “historians must describe”.
“I said it because it’s what I studied in high school,” he added.
“I wanted to say that they should inherit their culture, which cannot be bought anywhere else, and that Russian culture is beautiful and deep and will not remain frozen, even though Russia has had dark moments,” underlined.
The pope reiterated that he was not thinking of “imperialism” because “there are imperialisms that want to impose their own ideology and when culture is distilled and converted into ideology, it becomes poison.”
“Never forget your heritage. You are heirs of the great Russia: the great Russia of saints, of rulers, of the great Russia of Peter the Great, of Catherine the Great, of that great enlightened empire, of great culture and great humanity. ” , said the Pope to the young people.
The pope’s words were criticized by Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko as defending “Russian imperialism”.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the international community at large , which has responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia.
Still in today’s statements and in a reference to China, Pope Francis stressed that the Vatican’s relations with the major Asian power are positive, but said more efforts need to be made to show Beijing that the Catholic Church is not dependent on a foreign power. .
Francis referred to the Holy See’s relations with China, when his trip to Mongolia, which has a large Buddhist majority, was also marked by the issue of the repression of religious minorities attributed to Beijing.
The Pope sent a greeting telegram to China’s President Xi Jinping as he flew through Chinese airspace on his journey to and from Mongolia.
Earlier, and at a mass in Ulan Bator, the Mongolian capital, he also gave a special greeting to the Chinese people and was joined at the altar by the current bishop and the emeritus bishop of Hong Kong, to express his “strong” affection for the Chinese show people. the population of China.
Source: DN
