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COMMENTARY: The wounds from the Holy Father’s recent comments will not heal in Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and other lands subjugated by imperial Moscow.
A month after Pope Francis spoke in favorable terms about Russia’s imperial past, the diplomatic ramifications still reverberate. Last week, the Holy Father received the credentials of the new Russian ambassador, a rather routine encounter, though with a Vatican statement about how friendly the meeting was.
A few days later, on Friday, the Holy Father received the Ukrainian ambassador to the Holy See in a private audience, which is absolutely not a routine encounter. Ambassadors to the Holy See get two meetings with the pope, both pro forma — one when they present their credentials and another upon departure. Otherwise, they meet with officials in the Secretariat of State and, in particularly grave moments, with the secretary of state himself.
But given how disappointed Ukrainians and other Central and Eastern Europeans have been with the Holy Father’s comments regarding Russia, it was likely thought necessary to get the Ukrainian ambassador in immediately in order to forestall any further deterioration of relations.
The Holy See can ill afford another August crisis.
Ukrainian independence day is Aug. 24. Pope Francis chose that day in 2022 — the first year of the full-scale war — to lament Russian “innocents” killed in the war. That brought forth the most thundering denunciation in the recent history of papal diplomacy. The Ukrainian ambassador to the Holy See, Andrii Yurash, said that Pope Francis could not tell the difference between the “rapist and the rape victim.”
That the Holy See meekly accepted that startling rebuke, and didn’t send Yurash packing, was itself an acknowledgment of how frustrated Ukrainians had become. It can be presumed that the rapist-raped remarks were discreetly ignored at last Friday’s audience. Yurash brought a teddy bear to symbolize the plight of Ukrainian children.
Continued below.
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A month after Pope Francis spoke in favorable terms about Russia’s imperial past, the diplomatic ramifications still reverberate. Last week, the Holy Father received the credentials of the new Russian ambassador, a rather routine encounter, though with a Vatican statement about how friendly the meeting was.
A few days later, on Friday, the Holy Father received the Ukrainian ambassador to the Holy See in a private audience, which is absolutely not a routine encounter. Ambassadors to the Holy See get two meetings with the pope, both pro forma — one when they present their credentials and another upon departure. Otherwise, they meet with officials in the Secretariat of State and, in particularly grave moments, with the secretary of state himself.
But given how disappointed Ukrainians and other Central and Eastern Europeans have been with the Holy Father’s comments regarding Russia, it was likely thought necessary to get the Ukrainian ambassador in immediately in order to forestall any further deterioration of relations.
The Holy See can ill afford another August crisis.
Ukrainian independence day is Aug. 24. Pope Francis chose that day in 2022 — the first year of the full-scale war — to lament Russian “innocents” killed in the war. That brought forth the most thundering denunciation in the recent history of papal diplomacy. The Ukrainian ambassador to the Holy See, Andrii Yurash, said that Pope Francis could not tell the difference between the “rapist and the rape victim.”
That the Holy See meekly accepted that startling rebuke, and didn’t send Yurash packing, was itself an acknowledgment of how frustrated Ukrainians had become. It can be presumed that the rapist-raped remarks were discreetly ignored at last Friday’s audience. Yurash brought a teddy bear to symbolize the plight of Ukrainian children.
Continued below.
Pope Francis on Imperialism: Is Russia a Special Case?
COMMENTARY: The wounds from the Holy Father’s recent comments will not heal in Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and other lands subjugated by imperial Moscow.
