Bruni made a statement regarding Pope Francis’ video call to Russian Catholic youth on August 25: “The Pope intends to encourage these young people to preserve and promote the positive elements of Russia’s great cultural and spiritual heritage.”
(Vatican News Network) “In his impromptu greeting a few days ago to some Russian Catholic young people, as is clear from the context of his speech, he intended to encourage these young people to preserve and promote the positive aspects of Russia’s great cultural and spiritual heritage. Instead of praising imperialist logic and ruling figures, he cited several historical periods as references. the end of the online meeting to explain.
In a speech addressed to the youth of St. Petersburg, who attended a meeting of Russian Catholic youth, the Pope repeated his invitation to be “sowers of reconciliation”, but also asked them never to forget their “heritage”. Then the Pope turned to “Great Russia” and its cultural history, citing the examples of Peter the Great and Catherine II.
The Pope’s speech, published on the website of the Cathedral of Our Lady in Moscow, drew some opposition from Ukraine, which criticized the pope’s greeting for encouraging imperialist ideas. The Ukrainian Catholic Archbishop Svyatoslav Shevchuk also reacted. The Embassy of the Holy See in Kiev declined to provide any explanation, saying that Pope Francis “strongly opposes and criticizes any form of imperialism or colonialism in all nations and in all situations. The Pope’s August 25 speech also deserves the same interpretation.”
Link URL: www.vaticannews.cn.