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☆ Lithuania summons Pope's diplomat over remarks on Russian empire heritage
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Pope Francis leads the Angelus prayer from his window at the Vatican, August 27, 2023. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS/ File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsVILNIUS, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Majority-Catholic EU member Lithuania has summoned the Vatican's top diplomat in the country after Pope Francis told Russian youths to remember they are the heirs of "the great Russian empire". The Vatican said on Tuesday Pope Francis did not intend to glorify Russian imperialism in the speech, in which he also extolled Russian emperors Peter the Great and Catherine II who expanded the Russian empire. The territories of Lithuania and Poland were annexed into the Russian empire in the 18th century by Catherine II. Francis' intent was "to preserve and promote all that is positive in the great Russian cultural and spiritual heritage", said Vatican.

Persons: Pope Francis, Francis, Peter the Great, Catherine II, Russia, Andrius Sytas, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Vatican, Handout, REUTERS, Rights, Catholic EU, Lithuanian Foreign Affairs Ministry, Russian, European Union, NATO, Catholic, Communist, Thomson Locations: Rights VILNIUS, Lithuania, St . Petersburg, Russian, Poland, Vatican, Ukraine, Soviet, Vilnius

CNN —Ukrainian officials have criticized Pope Francis’ recent address to Russian youth, calling his remarks “imperialist propaganda.”The pontiff made a video address to the 10th All-Russian Catholic Youth Assembly in St. Petersburg on Friday, during which he urged them to view themselves as descendants of the Russian empire. 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. Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin compared himself to Peter the Great during an exhibition dedicated to the first Russian emperor, using the comparison to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Peter the Great waged the Great Northern War for 21 years,” Putin said at the time. The pope has previously been criticized for some of his comments about Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Persons: Pope Francis ’, Peter I, Catherine II, Russia, ”, Oleh Nikolenko, ‘, Russia ’, ” Nikolenko, Vladimir Putin, Peter the Great, “ Peter the Great, ” Putin, “, Peter, –, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Catherine the Great, ” Shevchuk, Pope, Francis, Darya Dugina, Visvaldas Kulbokas, Francis ’, Volodymyr Zelensky Organizations: CNN, Catholic Youth Assembly, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Kremlin, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Vatican, La Stampa, NATO, Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Locations: St . Petersburg, Russia, Russian, Ukraine, Sweden, Ukrainian, Italian, Moscow, Rome

☆ Pope Francis draws criticism for extolling Russian imperialist tsars
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Pope Francis holds the weekly general audience, in Paul VI hall at the Vatican, August 9, 2023. You are heirs of the great Russia - the great Russia of the saints, of kings, the great Russia of Peter the Great, of Catherine II, the great Russian empire, cultured, so much culture, so much humanity. An editorial on Italy's Il Sismografo website, which specialises in Catholic affairs, called the pope's words "odd" at a delicate moment in history. Pope Francis is a Jesuit. The comment prompted Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to summon the Vatican's ambassador in Kyiv to protest, saying the pope's words were "unfair" and had "broken Ukraine's heart".

Persons: Pope Francis, Paul VI, Peter the Great, Vladimir Putin, Francis, Catherine II, Russia, Oleg Nikolenko, Nikolenko, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Italy's, Catherine, Catherine the Great, Pope Clement XIV, Last, Putin, Tsar Peter the Great, propounding, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Nexta, Darya, Dmytro Kuleba, Ron Popeski, Tomasz Janowski, Alex Richardson Organizations: Vatican, Handout, REUTERS, CITY, Kremlin, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Facebook, Rite Catholic Church, Ukrainian, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, St . Petersburg, Russia, Crimea, Russian, Estonian, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, Moscow, Kyiv

[1/5] Pope Francis waves to pilgrims at the end of the Holy Mass on the last day of World Youth Day (WYD) at Parque Tejo in Lisbon, Portugal, 06 August 2023. About 1.5 million people attended his closing Mass at a riverside park in the Portuguese capital, the Vatican said, quoting local authorities. "Dear friends, allow me, this old man, to share with you young people a dream that I carry within me: it is the dream of peace, the dream of young people praying for peace, living in peace and building a peaceful future," Francis said. Francis, who was returning to Rome on Sunday evening after an event to thank volunteers at the World Youth Day festival, met a delegation of 15 young people from Ukraine during his trip. The pope announced that the next World Youth Day would be held in Seoul, South Korea in 2027.

Persons: Pope Francis, Read, Francis, Marina Sylvester, DJ, Guilherme, Philip Pullella, Frances Kerry Organizations: Parque Tejo, Catholic Youth, Church, Thomson Locations: Lisbon, Portugal, LISBON, Ukraine, Rome, pope's, Argentina, Seoul, South Korea

FATIMA, Portugal, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Pope Francis visited the revered Catholic shrine of Fatima in Portugal on Saturday, praying the rosary with about 200,000 people at the site where the Church says the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children in 1917. The 86-year-old pope skipped reading a key speech that was on the programme of his two-hour visit to the world-famous shrine north of Lisbon. The omission did not appear to indicate that the pope was experiencing any health issues. Francis flew in from Lisbon - the venue of a Catholic youth festival - to make his second visit as pope to the shrine that draws millions of pilgrims a year. [1/6]Pope Francis greets a child as he meets with people at the Chapel of Apparitions of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, during his apostolic journey to Portugal on the occasion of the XXXVII World Youth Day, in Fatima, Portugal, August 5, 2023.

Persons: FATIMA, Pope Francis, Virgin Mary, Matteo Bruni, Francis, Bruni, Fatima, FATIMA Fatima, Francisco, Jacinta Marto, Lucia Dos Santos, Madonna, Sister Lucia, Pope John Paul, Catarina Demony, Philip Pullella, Michael Gore, Pedro Nunes, Andrew Cawthorne, Frances Kerry Organizations: Catholic, Vatican, Handout, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Portugal, Fatima, Lisbon, Vatican, Castelo Branco, Russia

Francis was speaking in Lisbon at the start of a five-day visit to the country in which he hopes to energize young Catholics during World Youth Day, the world's largest Catholic festival. The Vatican added the victims were accompanied by some representatives of institutions of the Portuguese Church responsible for the protection of minors. YOUNG CATHOLICS CONVERGE ON LISBONThe pope landed in Lisbon to a sea of young Catholics who have poured into the city from around the globe for the World Youth Day festival, held every two or three years in a different city. In Lisbon, young believers jumped and sang as they proudly waved their country's flag outside the Vatican embassy, where the pope is residing. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneWorld Youth Day "is a sign of faith and union in which all of us get together for a cause," said 20-year-old Carlos Hernandez.

Persons: Pope, Francis, Pope Francis, Guglielmo Mangiapane, Carlos Hernandez, Australian Andrew De Santos, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Philip Pullella, Catarina Demony, Patricia Rua, Alison Williams, Conor Humphries, Grant McCool Organizations: Catholic, Wednesday, Catholic Church, Vatican, Bishops, Conference, Cultural, Belem, REUTERS, Sunday, Thomson Locations: Portugal, LISBON, Lisbon, Portuguese, Vatican, Australian, Brazil, Rome, Ukraine, Europe

[1/3] A volunteer does the registration check-in of pilgrims on the first day of the XXXVII World Youth Day, in Lisbon, Portugal, August 1, 2023. The cross-cultural festival, which actually runs for nearly a week, is held every two to three years and was initiated by the late Pope John Paul. At the Lisbon civil parish of Olivais, volunteers welcomed pilgrims carrying suitcases and sleeping bags on Tuesday near a school that is hosting them. He will celebrate several Masses and attend events with young people, politicians and diplomats. Reporting by Catarina Demony, Miguel Pereira and Pedro Nunes; Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Pedro Nunes, Pope Francis, Pope John Paul, Francis, Emilie Bartoschek, Bartoschek, Parque Eduardo VII, Buddy, Catarina Demony, Miguel Pereira, Bernadette Baum Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters Connect, Thomson Locations: Lisbon, Portugal, Reuters Connect LISBON, Tejo, Portuguese, Western, Olivais, Germany, Parque

☆ Pope tells transgender person: 'God loves us as we are'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VATICAN CITY, July 25 (Reuters) - Pope Francis has told a young transgender person that "God loves us as we are", his latest outreach gesture towards the LGBT community. One of the young people was Giona, an Italian in their early 20s who said they were "torn by the dichotomy between (their Catholic) faith and transgender identity". The Catholic Church teaches that members of the LGBT community should be treated with respect, compassion and sensitivity, and their human rights respected. Whether the Church can and should be more welcoming towards LGBT people, for example by offering blessings for same-sex unions, is a particularly sensitive topic. He backs civil laws giving same-sex couples rights in bureaucratic matters such as pensions and health care.

Persons: Pope Francis, Francis, Alvise, Philip Pullella, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: CITY, Vatican, Catholic, Catholic Church, Thomson Locations: Portugal

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