Pope Francis criticized the Kremlin for the war in Ukraine, which began with the Russian invasion on February 24, but said the conflict may have been “provoked”.
The pontiff’s views were expressed in a conversation with the directors of the Jesuit Magazines, during an audience at the Vatican on May 19, and the entirety of the meeting was published in this Tuesday’s edition (14) of the magazine La Civiltà Cattolica. Part of the conversation was reproduced by the Vatican News website.
In the conversation, Francis criticized “the brutality and ferocity with which this war is being conducted by troops, usually mercenaries, used by the Russians”, who, in the pope’s opinion, “prefer to send Chechens, Syrians, mercenaries”.
“But the danger is that we only see this, which is monstrous, and we don’t see all the drama that is unfolding behind this war, which perhaps was somehow provoked or not prevented. And I note the interest in testing and selling weapons. It is very sad, but in the end this is what is at stake,” the pope said.
“Can anyone say to me right now, ‘But are you in favor of the [presidente russo, Vladimir] Putin!’ No, I’m not. It would be simplistic and wrong to say such a thing. I am simply against reducing complexity [do momento] to the distinction between the good and the bad, without thinking about roots and interests, which are very complex. While we see the ferocity, the cruelty of the Russian troops, we must not forget the problems in order to try to solve them”, justified Francis.
In the conversation, the pope called Ukrainians “a brave people, a people who are fighting to survive and who have a history of struggle”, but said that there are also conflicts in other regions of the world, such as in northern Nigeria and Congo, and “nobody cares”.
Finally, Francis said he hopes to meet Cyril of Moscow, patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, criticized for his support of Putin, at a general assembly in Kazakhstan in September: “I hope to be able to greet him and speak a little with him as a pastor ”.
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