"NATO barking at Russia's door": Pope draws attention to Ukraine escalation

Created: 05/04/2022, 22:24

By: Andreas Schmid

Pope Francis speaks in an interview about the Ukraine war.

In Moscow he wants to mediate with Kremlin boss Putin.

(Archive image) © L'osservatore Romano HO/dpa

Pope Francis speaks about the Ukraine war.

He blames NATO and wants to meet Putin - but not the Russian Orthodox Church.

Rome - How is the Vatican positioned in the Ukraine war?

On the one hand, the escalating conflict was one of the main themes of Pope Francis' Easter message.

In front of around 50,000 believers on St. Peter's Square in Rome, he called for peace for the "suffering Ukraine".

He spoke of the "Easter of the War" because there had already been "too much bloodshed" in this "senseless war".

On the other hand, the head of the church is repeatedly confronted with accusations that he is too pro-Putin, too close to Russia.

That's why he recently wrote a letter to an Argentine journalist.

He accused the media in his homeland of "slander and disinformation".

They had criticized the fact that Francis showed solidarity with Ukraine, but did not condemn Russia and President Vladimir Putin by name.

Now Pope Francis spoke up again.

Ukraine war: Pope wants to meet Putin - "We are trying"

According to Francis, he asked Putin for a meeting in Moscow to work towards an end to the Ukraine war.

The head of the Catholic Church said in an interview with the Italian newspaper

on Tuesday (3 May) that he sent a message to Putin about a meeting about 20 days after the start of the war - but has so far received no reply.

Pope Francis, head of state at the Vatican, told the newspaper: "We have not yet received an answer and we continue to seek it.

But I am afraid that Putin cannot and does not want to meet at the moment.” Interesting: According to the Pope, he is not planning a trip to Ukraine.

"I will not go to Kyiv for the time being," Francis said.

"I feel like I shouldn't go there.

First I have to go to Moscow, first I have to meet Putin.”

In the interview, the Pope also compared the Ukraine war to the genocide in Rwanda.

“You just have to stop such brutality.

We experienced the same thing with Rwanda 25 years ago,” Pope Francis added.

He was referring to the genocide in the East African country in 1994. According to the UN, 800,000 people were killed at that time, mostly members of the Tutsi minority in the country.

Ukraine war: Francis criticizes NATO

Passages from the interview in which Francis criticized NATO also attracted attention.

As in every conflict, there are "international interests" in the Ukraine war.

Francis suspected that "NATO barking at Russia's door" may have caused the Ukraine conflict to escalate.

He did not want to go so far as to say that the NATO presence in Russia's neighboring countries "provoked" the Kremlin.

The invasion was thereby "perhaps facilitated".

In addition, Francis cannot judge whether arms deliveries to Ukraine are correct or not.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine was created from outside.

German theologians take a critical view of the interview.

They called on the Pope to make a stronger commitment to Ukraine.

"The Pope discredits himself and the Catholic Church if he does not name the attacker," said Eastern Europe expert Thomas Bremer to the online magazine "Kirche-und-Leben.de".

The Berlin theologian Regina Elsner is bothered that Francis wants to speak to Putin.

"I don't think anyone can influence Putin right now," she told the internet portal domradio.de.

Ukraine war: Pope attacks "Putin's altar boy"

But there is also criticism from Moscow.

There is currently a bit of a crisis between Russia and the Vatican.

Francis is actually considered a clergyman who wants to overcome the differences with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Most recently, however, a meeting with Moscow Patriarch Cyril, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, which was originally planned for mid-June, was canceled.

The sign conveyed by this would be inappropriate in times of war, Francis said recently.

Pope Francis and Cyril at a meeting in 2016. The two church leaders should have seen each other again in June - but the pope canceled.

© ITAR-TASS/Imago

In the interview, Francis also spoke about Kyrill's closeness to Putin.

“I spoke to Kyrill via Zoom for 40 minutes.

In the first 20, he read me the justifications for the war with a piece of paper in his hand,” said Francis.

He must not "make himself Putin's acolyte".

Cyril regularly defends the Russian war of aggression.

The Russian Orthodox Church rejected the criticism and accused Francis of an "incorrect tone".

Kyrill currently has other problems anyway.

He could be on the EU sanctions list.