In a video address at the All-Russian meeting of Catholic youth in St. Petersburg, Pope Francis called on young Russians not to forget that they are the heirs of 18th-century tsars and praised Great Russia - the empire that President Vladimir Putin refers to in connection with the invasion of Ukraine, the New York Times writes. .
He first read a prepared speech in Spanish, then switched to Italian and said:
"Never forget the legacy." You are the heirs of great Russia: the Great Russia of saints, rulers, the great Russia of Peter the Great, Catherine the Second, and that empire - great, enlightened, great culture and great humanity."
For the past year, the Pope has consistently called for peace and supported the Ukrainians, whom he called "martyrs" fighting the Russian invasion, and his speech came under fire.
"It is unfortunate that the Russian ideas of a great state, which are in fact the cause of Russia's chronic aggression, come from the Pope's mouth," Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote on Facebook.
Last year, Putin compared himself to Peter the Great and equated Russia's invasion of Ukraine with Peter's wars three centuries ago. He also presented the invasion as an attempt "to put an end to the war started by the West", as he put it last week.
The comments also sparked outrage online.
"This is truly revolting," former Estonian President Tomas Hendrik wrote on Twitter.
One user wrote:
"The question is why Pope Francis is clearly spreading the worst kind of Russian chauvinist propaganda, brainwashing his audience and effectively supporting aggression, murder, rape, execution, occupation." This is really evil".
"Hearing the Pope of Rome, at this delicate moment in history, praising Catherine the Second seems quite strange to many Catholics," according to the Italian portal Il Sismografo, which specializes in Catholic issues.
In the rest of the speech, which the Vatican published on the Internet, the pope tells Russian youth to be "craftsmen of peace" and to "sow the seeds of reconciliation."
AE/The New York Times/Politics
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