Pope Francis praises Russian Empire, sparking Ukraine fury

In a video speech to the young catholics at the All-Russian Meeting of Catholic Youth in St. Petersburg, Pope Francis called them to be proud of Russia's great heritage, RIA Novisti reports. His speech has sparked strong negative reaction in Kiev. The official representative of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Oleh Nikolenko, called it "imperialist propaganda."

The Vatican currently is trying to walk back the message saying that Francis merely wanted to praise the positive aspects of Russia’s spiritual and cultural history.

Nonetheless, the Pope's words are clearly stating the point, "Don’t forget your heritage. You are the descendants of great Russia: the great Russia of saints, rulers, the great Russia of Peter I, Catherine II, that empire — educated, great culture and great humanity. /.../ Never give up on this heritage. You are descendants of the great Mother Russia, step forward with it. And thank you — thank you for your way of being, for your way of being Russian."

Russkiy Mir