What was he supposed to do, freak out at an international event?
Instead, he left them at the foot of a statue of Mary, referring to them kindly, as one would to the gift of a child who didn’t know any better.
Yes, he should have explicitly said that the hammer and sickle has killed hundreds of millions and Jesus should not be blasphemed like that.
These are dangerous people and heretics, not children, and they need to be fought as John Paul fought them.
In 1983 the Pope wagged his finger at Sandinista government minister and Nicaraguan priest, Ernesto Cardenal on a trip to Managua, warning the latter to “straighten out the situation in your church.”
https://nacla.org/news/popes-holy-war-against-liberation-theology
It occurred to me that he left it at the feet of the Blessed Mother for a very good reason and that is a salient point that may have been easily missed.