Ukrainian political and religious leaders have objected strongly to a speech by Pope Francis exalting Russian history.
“You are the heirs of great Russia: the great Russia of saints, monarchs, the great Russia of Peter the Great, of Catherine II, that Russian empire — great, enlightened, great culture and great humanity,” the pontiff said via a live video address to young Russian Catholics gathered in St. Petersburg this weekend for the All-Russian Catholic Youth Day.
“Never give up this legacy, you are the heirs of the great Mother Russia, go ahead with it. And thank you. Thank you for your way of being, for your way of being Russians,” he told them.
Ukrainian officials said the pope’s comments — pronounced last Friday but only made public on Monday — constituted “imperialist propaganda.”
“It’s a shame that Russian great-power ideas, which are the…
