Pope Francis urges young Russians to look to the tsars

The comments forced the Vatican to deny that the pontiff supports Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Pope’s eulogy of Russia’s 17th and 18th-century history echoed rhetoric from Vladimir Putin. Picture: AFP

Off-the-cuff comments by the Pope lauding Russia’s former status as a “great imperial power” have drawn condemnation from Ukraine, praise from Russia and prompted the Vatican to deny that the pontiff supports Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

During a live video address to young Catholics meeting in St Petersburg on Friday, the Pope delivered a prepared speech in which he encouraged his audience to be “artisans of peace”. However, in impromptu remarks at the end, he began extolling Russia’s past.

“Never forget your inheritance. You are the heirs of the great Russia. The great Russia of the saints, of the kings, of the great Russia of Peter the Great, of Catherine II, that great imperial Russia, cultivated, with so much culture and humanity,” he said, adding: “Thank you for your way of being, for your way of being Russian.”

The Pope’s eulogy of Russia’s 17th and 18th-century history, which included the annexation of Crimea by Catherine the Great in 1783, echoed rhetoric from President Vladimir Putin, who has referenced Russia’s historical expansionism to justify his invasion of Ukraine 18 months ago.

Responding to the speech, Oleg Nikolenko, the Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman, said: “It is precisely with such imperialist propaganda - the ‘spiritual ties’ and the ‘need’ to save ‘great Mother Russia’ - that the Kremlin justifies the killing of thousands of Ukrainians and the destruction of Ukrainian cities and villages.”

Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, was also angered by the Pope’s remarks, claiming they “refer to the worst example of Russian imperialism and extreme nationalism”. He added: “We fear that those words are understood by some as an encouragement of precisely this nationalism and imperialism, which is the real cause of the war in Ukraine.”

Dmitry Peskov, Mr Putin’s spokesman, welcomed the Pope’s comments, commending his “deep” understanding of Russia’s history. Mr Peskov claimed Russian schools also wanted to teach pupils about their background. “The fact that the pontiff, let’s say, sounds in unison with these efforts, is very, very gratifying,” he said.

Attempting to downplay any implication that the Pope had glorified Russian imperialism, the Vatican issued a statement emphasising that his intentions were “clear from the context” and that he sought “to encourage young people to preserve and promote what is positive in Russia’s great cultural and spiritual heritage, and certainly not to exalt imperialistic logic”. The Vatican clarified that the Pope had mentioned Catherine and Peter solely to “indicate certain historical periods of reference”.

The Vatican’s embassy in Kyiv emphasised that the Pope was “a convinced opponent and critic of any form of imperialism or colonialism”.

Despite frequently denouncing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Pope came under scrutiny last year for partially attributing the conflict to NATO’s expansion into Eastern Europe, which he likened to “the barking of NATO at the door of Russia”.

THE TIMES