Pope Francis has been included in the database of the Ukrainian website “Peacemaker” for calling on Russian youth not to abandon the heritage of the great empire.
Russian youth are the heirs of a great Russia, an enlightened empire, a country of great culture and great humanity, Pope Francis said last Friday in an online speech at the All-Russian Meeting of Catholic Youth in St. Petersburg.
He urged young people to never abandon this heritage.
“Never forget the heritage. You are heirs of a great Russia. The great Russia of the saints, of the rulers. The great Russia of Peter the Great, of Catherine II, of that empire – great, enlightened, a country of great culture and great humanity. Never give up this inheritance, you are heirs of the great Mother Russia, go forward with it. And thank you. Thank you for your way of being Russians,” the pontiff said.
The Pope read out a prepared speech in Spanish, but at the end suddenly switched to Italian. The Vatican published the text of the address, but did not include the last paragraph, spoken by the head of the Holy See impromptu. A video of his address was posted on religious websites.
After the pontiff’s speech, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry frightened the Vatican ambassador in Kiev and protested to him. The diplomat was told that the pope’s words were “unfair” and “tear the heart of Ukraine”. The head of the Holy See’s press service, Matteo Bruni, expressed disagreement with the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s view that the pontiff’s words amounted to “imperialist propaganda” in a statement released on Tuesday.
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