Pope Francis came under criticism on Monday for telling Russian youths to remember that they are the heirs of past Tsars such as Peter the Great, who President Vladimir Putin has held up as an example to justify the invasion of Ukraine.
Francis made his comments last Friday in a live video address to Catholic youths gathered in St. Petersburg."Don't forget heredity. You are heirs of the great Russia: the great Russia of the saints, of kings, the great Russia of Peter the Great, of Catherine II, the great Russian empire, cultured, so much culture, so much humanity. You are the heirs of the great mother Russia. Go forward.
"Hearing the pope of Rome, in this delicate moment in history, praise Catherine II ... appears to many Catholics to be quite odd," said an editorial Italy's Il Sismografo website, which specialises in Catholic affairs. Putin has repeatedly sought to justify Russia's actions in Ukraine, where his forces have devastated cities, killed thousands and put millions of people to flight, by propounding a view of history that asserts Ukraine has no real national identity or tradition of statehood.
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