The representative of the Pope in Russia explained his words about the Russian tsars

The mention by Pope Francis of Emperor Peter I and Empress Catherine II in an address on August 25 to Russian Catholic youth emphasized the continuity and connection with European and Western culture. These words were not intended to demonstrate a pro-Russian position or glorify the idea of ​​a Russian state as a pontiff in the conflict in Ukraine, as they were understood in Kyiv and the Baltics. This is how Vedomosti explained the words of Francis, the head of the World Union of Old Believers, Leonid Sevastyanov, who acts as a confidant of the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Russia.

“Peter I, Catherine II are perceived by Pope Francis as a symbol of belonging to European, Western culture, common Christian civilization. This is a reference to the time when Russia began to integrate into the Western world on an equal footing. The names of these rulers for the pope as the spiritual leader of the West are symbols of “theirs”, they legitimize Russia in the West as “theirs”,” Sevastyanov said in an interview with Vedomosti.

According to Sevastyanov, the Pope considers it right not to isolate Russia from Europe and the West, which is now largely happening against the backdrop of the conflict in Ukraine, but to offer her integration into the Western cultural and political space again as the bearer and heir of Christian and European culture. The head of the World Union of Old Believers added that the pontiff considers it necessary to find a peaceful solution to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict now.

“The position of the Pope is that Russia and Ukraine start negotiations right now. Moreover, contacts themselves to prepare for resolving the situation can be conducted even despite the continuation of hostilities, and, first of all, it is necessary to achieve a ceasefire. On the contrary, the pontiff considers any ultimatums as a condition of negotiations inappropriate,” Sevastyanov said. According to him, the pope refrains on principle from assessing the territorial issue.

In the modern official historical discourse of Ukraine, the figures of Emperor Peter the Great and Empress Catherine the Great are interpreted in a sharply negative way, they are associated with “colonization” and “Russification”. The territories of the two modern Baltic republics – Estonia and most of Latvia – became part of the Russian Empire under Peter the Great in 1721, and Lithuania – under Catherine the Great, in 1795, following the third partition of the Commonwealth.

The reason for the ongoing reaction of Ukraine and the Baltic countries that support it was the speech of Pope Francis via video link at an event held in the Catholic Basilica of St. Catherine in St. Petersburg on August 25. The Pope said: “Never forget the heritage. You are the descendants of great Russia: the great Russia of saints, rulers, the great Russia of Peter I, Catherine II, that empire – great, educated, great culture and great humanity. Never give up on this heritage. You are the descendants of the great Mother Russia, step forward with this. And thank you – thank you for your way of being, for your way of being Russian.”

On August 28, the words of Francis were criticized by the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Svyatoslav Shevchuk. Oleg Nikolaenko, official representative of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, also spoke negatively about the content of the pontiff’s speech. On August 29, former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves called the Pope’s words “really disgusting.” On August 30, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry summoned the Apostolic Nuncio (the official representative of the Vatican in the country) for a talk. It will take place “at the beginning of September, when Archbishop Petar Rajic returns from vacation,” said ministry spokeswoman Paulina Levickite. On the same day, in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, called Pope Francis “an instrument of Russian propaganda.”

Later, the head of the press service of the Vatican, Matteo Bruni, in response to criticism of the pope, explained that he “intended to call for [российскую католическую] young people to the preservation and promotion of everything positive in the great cultural and spiritual heritage of Russia. But criticism from various Ukrainian officials and public figures continued. In turn, on August 29, the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin positively accepted the words of Pope Francis about the heritage of Russia and its emperors. “The pontiff knows Russian history, and this is very good. It is really deep, has deep roots. And what the pontiff sounds with these efforts [российского государства по напоминанию о российском культурном наследии] in unison – this is very, very gratifying, ”Peskov said then

The scandal surrounding Pope Francis’ statements continues to unfold against the backdrop of his started visit to Mongolia, bordering both Russia and China. In Ulaanbaatar, the pontiff will hold communion with the Mongolian flock, numbering only 1,500 people from the country’s 3.3 million population – “small in number, but alive in faith,” in the words of the pontiff. The head of the Roman Catholic Church will stay in Mongolia until September 4. It is planned that on September 1, in the State Palace of Mongolia, the pope will address a certain message not only to the political leaders of Mongolia, but also to the local diplomatic corps, which includes employees of the embassies of Russia, China and North Korea. At the same time, according to Reuters, in September 2022, Francis tried to personally meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, when both were in Kazakhstan. Then, commenting on the visit of the pontiff, Kazakh President Kasym-Jomart Tokaev said that “we need leaders who at the international level could promote mutual understanding and dialogue between peoples and revive the” Helsinki spirit “, the desire to build a more stable and peaceful world.”

At the end of June 2023, the envoy of the Pope, Archbishop of Bologna and Cardinal Matteo Zuppi in Moscow held meetings with Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov and Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’ Kirill. The purpose of the visit to the Russian capital in the Vatican was called “encouraging gestures of humanity that can help resolve the current tragic situation and find ways to achieve a just peace” in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Prior to this, Zuppi visited Kyiv for the same purpose, where he met with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky (the pope himself met with the Ukrainian leader personally in May). Details of these visits were not publicly reported.