Pope claims NATO provoked Russia

[steve_bank]

Give the centuries of immortality of the RCC right up through the sec scandal I hardly think the pop has any moral high ground. The RCC continues to presume a god given right to meddle in politics and affairs of state and people's lives.

Opinion | Pope Francis Blames NATO

The Catholic leader can’t seem to condemn Russia’s invasion.

www.wsj.com

Shortly after America’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, Pope Francis quoted former German Chancellor Angela Merkel while criticizing the 20-year war: “It is necessary to put an end to the irresponsible policy of intervening from outside and building democracy in other countries, ignoring the traditions of the peoples.”


The problem is that the Pope was quoting Vladimir Putin, not Mrs. Merkel. That gaffe came to mind when an Italian newspaper published an interview with the Pope Tuesday.


Francis suggested that perhaps “NATO barking at Russia’s gate” had caused Mr. Putin to invade his neighbor, which doesn’t belong to the alliance. “I have no way of telling whether his rage has been provoked,” he continued. “but I suspect it was maybe facilitated by the West’s attitude.” Asked whether it was right to send weapons so Ukraine can defend itself, the Pope said, “I don’t know,” before criticizing the global arms trade.

Since the invasion, Francis has called for an end to the war and criticized the violence, but he hasn’t directly called out Russia for starting the conflict. Now that he finally speaks, he blames NATO for accepting members that want to avoid being invaded by Russia. What a terrible moral signal to send to dictators.

 

[Jayjay]

When it comes to foreign policy advice, I rank the pope somewhere between Tucker Carlson and a fermented banana.

 

[bilby]

The pope thinks that a virgin human gave birth to a human god.

His opinions on issues based in reality are therefore demonstrably suspect.

Why anyone would care to listen to his pontifications is beyond me.

 

[BH]

well the word pope and the word putin do both start with the letter p. That makes as much sense for what's going on as a longer of other crazy stuff said out there

 

[steve_bank]

The picture is just plain goofy, yet American presidents always pay lip service.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Well, The Pope has a time honored tradition of being wrong, so we wouldn't want to interfere with tradition.

 

[Politesse]

The Pope has limited influence in Russia. As monarch of the Vatican state he has his own politics to manage, and the situation with the Russian church is complicated. He did, in fact, heavily criticize the Patriarch for backing the war and especially for parroting propaganda, chastising him in the press and calling him "Putin's altar boy". He has also requested a visit to Moscow to speak directly to Putin, presumably to advocate for peaceful resolution, though it is easy to make a request you expect to be will be turned down. Indeed, that was two days ago, so this most recent comment may well be part of an effort to secure that invitation by demonstrating a williingness to hear Putin's argument out in good faith. But he's unlikely to just openly either back or condemn a free Ukraine, that is expecting something very unlikely given the recent history of the his own See, which has kept the influence it has in part by not openly taking sides in military conflicts. He is not exactly a formal pacifist, but a moral one on paper, certainly. What he actually said to the press about the war was "Non esistono le guerre giuste: non esistono!" A just war does not exist. And that is very much what anyone who has been watching the Papacy carefully would expect him to say. To openly endorse an armed faction would call his own stated convictions concerning Christians and political violence.

To clarify, I myself am not endorsing the Pope, just trying to add a bit of context to understanding the present situation. I was not surprised to see these remarks from Pope Francis, though I would not have said the same were I somehow in his Seat.