Lithuania has summoned a Vatican diplomat following Pope Francis’ controversial remarks about “great mother Russia.”
A spokesperson for Lithuania’s foreign ministry on Wednesday said they had invited the Apostolic Nuncio (a Vatican diplomat) for a chat in early September, after he returns from holiday, local news reported.
It comes days after Pope Francis was widely slammed for telling Russian youths to remember their legacy as heirs of a “great, enlightened Russian empire.”
During a video speech to the All-Russian Meeting of Catholic Youth in St. Petersburg, a clip of which was posted online, the pope invoked former Russian emperors Peter I and Catherine II, two rulers who played key roles in expanding Russia’s conquests in Europe, and who are known as symbols of Russian imperialism.
The comments sparked outrage in Kyiv where the pope was condemned for praising Russia’s imperialist past, considering the Kremlin’s ongoing aggression in Ukraine.
Oleg Nikolenko, Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said it is “very unfortunate that Russian great-power ideas, which are actually the cause of Russia’s chronic aggressiveness, knowingly or unknowingly, sound from the lips of the Pope.”
A Vatican spokesperson strongly denied the accusation, saying Pope Francis “intended to encourage young people to preserve and promote what is positive in Russia’s great cultural and spiritual heritage, and certainly not to glorify imperialistic logics and governmental personalities.”
In the rest of his speech, posted online by the Vatican, the pope had told Russian youth to be “artisans of peace” and to “sow seeds of reconciliations.”
Pope Francis has repeatedly criticized the Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling for an end to the conflict. But has also made some controversial remarks, seemingly blaming NATO for the conflict, and has refused to denounce Putin by name.
