Posted on 07/19/2022 5:51:17 PM PDT by marshmallow
ROME – Not only would it be a “disaster” if Pope Francis visits Russia before going to Ukraine, as the pontiff has said he’d like to do, but should that happen, Ukrainian borders actually could be closed to the pope, according to the Latin Archbishop of Lviv.
“Not only the Greek Catholic faithful, but also we do not agree with all the gestures of the Holy Father towards Russia; but perhaps we do not understand his intentions and policy well,” said Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki, who leads the 1.5-million Latin rite community in Ukraine.
“Let’s hope that the pope has good intentions and, with his way of acting, will soon bring peace to Ukraine,” Mokrzycki said.
Even before the invasion of Ukraine ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 24, Francis had been talking about a possible trip to “the martyred Ukraine.” Lately, however, he has expressed a desire to go to Moscow first, to assist in the process of dialogue.
Speaking to the German weekly Die Tagespost, Mokrzycki said that “our faithful say that one must first turn to the victim, to the one who suffers, and only then to the one who caused it.”
The prelate also said that while Ukrainians are very grateful to the pope “for having been close to the people from the beginning with his prayers and many appeals,” they have not forgotten that, so far, Francis has never clearly said that Russia is carrying out an invasion of Ukraine.
Mokrzycki said that the faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and other Ukrainians are puzzled by what they perceive as an ambiguous attitude of the pope and his actions aimed at keeping the doors of dialogue with Russia open.
(Excerpt) Read more at cruxnow.com ...
To the Pope, Moscow IS the Vatican.
Pelosi stirring the pot in Taiwan and the Pope stirring the pot in Ukraine ..... what could go wrong? LOL
Kiev might be relatively safe but there is still a war going on in the Ukraine.
I feel the Bishop is wrong. One of the tasks of most religious organizations is the abolishment of war. In the early years, the pope was a general in their army. Today he is a man of peace. Russia is the aggressor here and he may feel that he would like to meet with Putin and try to reason with him to stop the militancy. If he can do that, or even coerce Putin to the peace tables, he’s done his job as the leader of the religious entity he stands by.
wy69
Russia will spread her errors throughout the world . . .
If it were not for Catherine the Great keeping the Jesuits alive, the Jesuit concept of religious life and the Jesuit concept of liturgy would not be presently running amuck.
As to the Ukes finding Francis incomprehensible-—just keep in mind he’s a Jesuit. If one knows them well enough, that explains a great deal.
Df definition of a “disaster”. And I’m pretty sure Jesus doesn’t agree with him.
Ukraine- where even church leaders are corrupt.
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