Pope's statements on NATO's role in the Ukraine war cause outrage
Created: 05/08/2022, 04:55
By: Magdalena von Zumbusch
Pope Francis has given an Italian newspaper his view of NATO's role in the Ukraine war.
And that's met with a contradiction.
Vatican City - Fierce fighting continues in Ukraine.
The discussions about the war now extend to the Vatican.
In a recent interview, Pope Francis presented his view of the Ukraine war and its causes. His allegations against NATO met with outraged criticism.
Pope Francis and Ukraine War: 'Barking at Russia's Door' 'Maybe Favored' Russian Attack
Pope Francis openly speculates about possible motives that might have led Vladimir Putin to such a brutal war and elicits a storm of indignation with his conclusions.
NATO's eastward expansions were like "barking at Russia's door" and did not necessarily "provoke" the Russian attack, but "perhaps encouraged it," the pope told the Italian newspaper
Corriere della sera
.
Because NATO made Putin angry with their actions.
The Pope's NATO statements caused dismay in parts of political Berlin.
According to the Catholic news agency KNA
and
Bild
, the FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann does
n't have much time for the statements from the Vatican: "First Putin feigned piety with a candle in his hand in the Russian Orthodox Easter Vigil, now he's still up to it the Vatican.
Bravo.
The good Lord looks stunned at the earth while the people in Ukraine are dying".
CDU foreign politician Norbert Röttgen is of the opinion that Francis has not dealt with the situation in the Baltic and Eastern European states enough: In order to form an opinion, Francis should “not only travel to Moscow, but to Riga, Vilnius or Tallinn” , said he opposite the
picture
on Friday (May 6th)
.
And he considers criticism of the pope to be entirely justified: "When the pope goes into the field of politics, he is not infallible."
The Pope's view of the Ukraine war: "Does pacifism triumph over logic" at a certain age?
The former spokesman on religion for the Greens, Volker Beck, also criticized that the statements were not effective: "The Pope excuses the aggressor with his bluster.
The role of the church should be to persuade Russia to end the hostilities,” said the religious scholar.
Author Wladimir Kaminer believes that the attitude of the Pope (85) can (also) be attributed to his age.
He said of the
picture
: “In the case of old people, pacifism triumphs over logic.” About Putin and his threatened reactions to the NATO accession of various northern and eastern European countries (most recently Sweden and Finland), he says: “He was never afraid of that Alliance.
He is only using the eastward expansion for his goal: retaining power at any price, even if he invades neighboring countries and murders thousands of people.”
Putin's Ukraine war: "The Pope discredits himself and the Catholic Church," theologians agree
The Münster-based Eastern Europe expert Thomas Bremer found in the online magazine k
irche-und-leben.de
: "The Pope discredits himself and the Catholic Church if he does not name the attacker."
On the other hand, the Pope's efforts were rewarded by some quarters: "Every effort to achieve a ceasefire is good," Swiss President Ignazio Cassis summed up on Friday, according to the
KNA
.
Each actor must decide for himself how this can work in detail.
Lower-ranking church representatives also show good will to contribute to a solution and an end to the war, and it is probably better than no effort at all.
The statements made by the head of the church about the war in Ukraine remain difficult for many to understand.
