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The Protest of Ukrainian Catholics: “The Pope Supports Russian Aggression”

The archbishop of Kiev gives voice to the bitterness of his faithful, because of the embrace between Francis and the patriarch of Moscow and the “half truths” of the document they signed in Havana

by Sandro Magister
http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1351233?eng=y

ROME, February 17, 2016 – At the last conclave at which a Catholic power exercised its right of veto, a little more than a century ago, the cardinal who started out in the lead was ejected from the game because he was pro-French, in favor of a pro-Austrian candidate, who was elected pope with the name of Pius X.

Today the accusation that falls upon Pope Francis is that he is pro-Russian. And the latest of many proofs of this would be the joint declaration he signed with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Rus’, on February 12 at the Havana airport:

> "By God the Father’s will…"http://w2.vatican.va/content/france...0160212_dichiarazione-comune-kirill.html

In effect, it was widely predicted that both the modalities of the encounter between the two and the document they signed would provoke lively reactions on multiple fronts, primarily political in nature:

> Over the Embrace Between Francis and Kirill Falls the Shadow of Putin http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1351228?eng=y

And this is what happened. With the epicenter of the reactions being Ukraine and in particular its five million Greek-Catholics.

Their major archbishop, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, has said:

"Many contacted me and said that they feel betrayed by the Vatican, disappointed by the half-truth nature of this document, and even see it as indirect support by the Apostolic See for Russian aggression against Ukraine."

The archbishop of Kiev agreed wth these sentiments of his faithful in an extensive interview published Sunday, February 14 in Ukrainian and English on the official website of the Greek-Catholic Church:

> "Two Parallel Worlds" http://news.ugcc.ua/en/interview/tw...with_his_beatitude_sviatoslav_75970.html

And he has not found himself alone, Shevchuk, in severely criticizing the pro-Russian stance of the Holy See and of the pope. Because he has received explicit support from the apostolic nuncio in Ukraine, Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti:

> Il nunzio in Ucraina sul documento di Francesco e Kirill: "Da dimenticare" http://magister.blogautore.espresso...to-da-francesco-e-kirill-da-dimenticare/

Reproduced here is the position statement of the head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, who is awaited at the Vatican for a direct encounter with Pope Francis, after he returns from Cuba and Mexico: "Two Parallel Worlds": An Interview with His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1351233?eng=y

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Charles,

You can always be relied on to succinctly state the way things are!

Alex