The Head of the UGCC in Rome dispelled “romantic ideas about Russia”
During the audience, I asked Pope Francis: “Do you know what people in Ukraine say about you?”. He asked: “What?”. I answered: “That you didn’t read Dostoevsky well.” “But why?’ — he was surprised. The Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav spoke about this, sharing his impressions of the last audience with the Holy Father Francis in the ‘Open Church’ program on Live TV.
The Head of the UGCC noted that he tried to explain to everyone in Rome, notably Pope Francis, that very often, the Western world, the Roman world, the pastoral world, and the intellectual world has romantic ideas about Russia, which have been formed over the years…
“And I told the pope, — the spiritual leader said, — that it reminded me of certain romantic ideas about Germany before the Second World War: when someone heard the word ‘Germany,’ they pictured the German philosophy of the 19th century, high standards of German culture… But the ones who were in power — were nazis. And then the world wondered how such a people, with such high culture, created Auschwitz and was the cause of the great Holocaust…”.
“The same thing, — says the Head of the Church, — unfortunately, is happening in Russia. Criminals, and Nazis, are in power there. And the whole world today is watching the crimes against the Ukrainian people, their genocide. We see these mass burials. And the pope could not believe that such alleged role models of humanism could commit such a crime.”
His Beatitude Sviatoslav claimed that the hybrid war against Ukraine is connected with Russian propaganda: “Today, our people resemble a sick child who sees the world in black and white colors. And he believes that when someone is not with us, he is against us. Thus, it hurts when someone speaks positively about those who kill us.”
“Our people do not understand this. That is how I put it across to the pope. And I asked for some gesture, a word of comfort, empathy. Thus, I said: Holy Father, write a letter to the Ukrainians. And he wrote it,” said the Primate of the UGCC.
The UGCC Department for Information
