Pope Francis’ Russia Stance Angers Catholics in Central Europe
Pope Francis’ views on Russia and its invasion of Ukraine are alienating many Catholics in Central and Eastern Europe, who believe that the pontiff is understating Russia’s historic expansionism in the region and the threat it poses today. The pope’s recent praise of the 18th-century Russian empire that subjugated Ukraine stirred outrage well beyond Ukraine itself.
“Central Europeans—people from Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Czech Republic—we are shocked," said Michal Klosowski, a Catholic journalist in Warsaw and the author of a recent book about Francis, referring to the pope’s recent comments. “The pope has no idea about the history of Central Europe and about the history of the Russian Empire.
The nations of Central Europe were enslaved by the Russians for many centuries." In late-August remarks via video to a gathering of young Russian Catholics, Francis called the Russian empire under Czars Peter the Great and Catherine the Great a “great, enlightened empire of great culture and great humanity." Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, leader of Ukraine’s Greek Catholic Church, said Francis’ words caused great pain among the faithful and great disappointment among Ukrainian society at large. Shevchuk, who knew the pope when they both served as bishops in Buenos Aires, said in June that Francis’ background helps explain his conciliatory stance toward Russia, since “one of the inherent characteristics of Argentine culture is a profound mistrust of the North—that is, of the United States and Europe." The pope told reporters on Sept.
4 that he had been urging the young Russians to embrace their cultural heritage, exemplified by 19th-century writer Fyodor Dostoevsky. “I wasn’t thinking of imperialism when I
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