Pope Francis addresses the people when he arrives for the weekly general audience at the Vatican on June 8, 2022. REUTERS / Guglielmo Mangiapane
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- The Pope praises the Ukrainians for the “heroic” resistance.
- He says war should not be seen in black and white
- He hopes to meet with the head of Russian Orthodox Kirill in September
ROME, June 14 (Reuters) – Pope Francis has repeatedly lashed out at Russia for its actions in Ukraine, saying its troops were brutal, cruel and ferocious and that the invasion violated the right to self-determination of a country.
In the text of a conversation he held last month with Jesuit media editors and published on Tuesday, he praised the “brave” Ukrainians for fighting for survival, but also said that the situation was not in black and white. and that the war was “perhaps somehow.” provoked “.
While condemning “the ferocity, the cruelty of the Russian troops, we must not forget the real problems if we want them to be solved,” Francis said, including the arms industry among the factors encouraging the war.
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“It is also true that the Russians thought it would all be over in a week. But they miscalculated. They found a brave people, a people who are struggling to survive and have a history of struggle,” he said in the transcript. of the conversation, published by the Jesuit magazine Civilta Cattolica.
“This is what moves us: to see this heroism. I would very much like to emphasize this point, the heroism of the Ukrainian people. What we have before our eyes is a situation of world war, global interests, arms sales and appropriation. geopolitics, which is martyring a heroic people, “he said.
Separately, in a message for the next World Day of the Poor of the Roman Catholic Church, Francis lamented that Ukraine had been added to a list of regional wars.
“But here the situation is even more complex by the direct intervention of a ‘superpower’ intended to impose its own will in violation of the principle of self-determination of peoples,” he said.
“NO PRO-PUTIN”
In a conversation with Jesuit editors, Francis said that several months before President Vladimir Putin sent his forces to Ukraine, the pontiff had met with a head of state who expressed concern that NATO was “barking at the gates of Russia” in a way that could lead to war.
Francesc then said in his own words, “We do not see all the drama unfolding behind this war, which may have been somehow provoked or prevented.”
Asked rhetorically if this made him “pro-Putin,” he said, “No, I’m not. It would be simplistic and wrong to say such a thing.”
Francis also noted Russia’s “monstrous” use of Chechen and Syrian mercenaries in Ukraine.
Russia describes its actions in Ukraine as a “special operation” to disarm Ukraine and protect it from fascists. Ukraine and the West say the fascist accusation is unfounded and that war is an act of unprovoked aggression.
Francis said he hoped to meet with Russian Orthodox patriarch Kirill at an interfaith event in Kazakhstan in September. The two were due to meet in Jerusalem in June, but this trip was canceled due to the war.
Kirill, who is close to Putin, has given his full support to the war in Ukraine. Francis said last month that Kirill could not become “the monk of Putin’s altar,” sparked a protest by the Russian Orthodox Church.
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Additional report by Francesca Piscioneri; Edited by Gareth Jones
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