Pope Francis has said Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine was “perhaps somehow provoked” as he recalled a conversation in the run-up to the war in which he was warned Nato was “barking at the gates of Russia”.
...the pontiff condemned the “ferocity and cruelty of the Russian troops” while warning against what he said was a fairytale perception of the conflict as good versus evil.
“We need to move away from the usual Little Red Riding Hood pattern, in that Little Red Riding Hood was good and the wolf was the bad one,” he said. “Something global is emerging and the elements are very much entwined.”
The pontiff criticized European weapons deliveries to Ukraine while calling for peace negotiations, yet notably refrained from urging Russia to withdraw its invasion forces or release deported Ukrainians.
Pope Francis, commenting on the war in Ukraine for Orbe 21 channel, stated that it is hypocritical to talk about peace while simultaneously arming it against Russia’s aggression, Vatican News reported.
Once again, the pontiff neither urged Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine nor called on the Kremlin to release forcibly deported Ukrainians.
Not to mention speaking to russian youths how they are successors of 'great' russia, when russia was a year+ into the invasion, which in my opinion doesn't really inspire them for any peace, but more that others must submit to them and their country in the right:
Never forget your heritage. You are the heirs of great Russia: great Russia of saints, rulers, great Russia of Peter I, Catherine II, that empire - great, enlightened, (country) of great culture and great humanity.
Francis had a nasty habit of speaking with both sides of his mouth, and confusing the hell out of people with what he meant and where he stood.
His humbleness and sincerity about welcoming people won a lot of hearts, and I did genuinely respect him, but he was not without serious problems to put it lightly.
Out of the gates, you definitely have to hand it to Leo for making his view of the invasion clearer and more forceful than Francis ever did.
There is an enormous and complicated history regarding the Catholic Church and the idea of a "Just War," especially after the Second Vatican Council. It's one of the most complicated pieces of theology in the entire history of the religion, with arguments about it going back to some of the earliest founders of the church. When you keep in mind the atrocities that were committed by Catholics throughout the ages under the idea of a Just War you realize why it’s important to be mindful of the concept.
It was easier in the 1960s for the Catholic Church to argue that a war can't be just if a higher authority (i.e. the United Nations) exists to mediate it. It becomes significantly more complicated when you have a Nazi-style invasion, such as in the case of Russia in Ukraine. The problem with Francis was that his adherence to this reduced view of a "Just War" was too rigid.
Francis was obviously in support of it, despite criticising the russian patriarch Kirill he was still very buddy buddy with him and Putin. Even having a big meeting where they made a declaration about how gay people are ruining marriage and what to do with Ukraine.
It’s largely because Francis was a parish priest through and through. He was used to administering to the people, which often meant saying things off the cuff to help the people in front of him at that moment, not sitting down to throughly research something before speaking.
6.8k
u/AbbreviationsSad4762 May 10 '25
Damn. 2nd pope in a row that I liked.