The Pope and the "Russian world": Will RCC and UGCC be banned in Ukraine?

On August 25, 2023, during an online interaction with Russian youth, Pope Francis made a statement that shocked Ukrainian society. The Pontiff referred to Russian youth as heirs of "Mother Russia" and called on them to remember the greatness of their nation: "Never forget your heritage. You are the heirs of the great Russia: the great Russia of saints and rulers, the great Russia of Peter the Great, Catherine II, of that great, enlightened Russian empire of great culture and great humanity. Never give up this legacy, you are the heirs of the great Mother Russia, go forward with it. And thank you. Thank you for your way of being Russians."

The reaction of "ordinary" Ukrainians to these words was extremely negative. However, the authorities were quite tolerant. The most common comments revolved around the Pope's "mistake." But did the Pontiff really just make a "regrettable mistake", and if not, what will happen next to Ukrainian Catholics and Eastern Catholics?

The Pope and Putin

In the Vatican, there was an awkward attempt to justify the Pope, who allegedly "did not intend to praise imperial logic and rulers he mentioned to highlight certain relevant historical periods". However, Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not believe these justifications, stating that "it is with such imperial propaganda that the Kremlin justifies the murders of thousands of Ukrainian men and women and the destruction of hundreds of Ukrainian cities and villages".

Probably, it was for this reason that the statement by the Pope was highly appreciated in the Kremlin. Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, noted: "The Pontiff knows Russian history very well." According to him, "It is indeed profound, with deep roots, our heritage is not limited to just Peter or Catherine. It goes much further back. And what the state, public associations and teachers are engaged in is conveying this heritage to our youth. It is very heartening that the pontiff's words resonate with these efforts."

In turn, the initiator of the ban on the UOC, MP Mykola Kniazhytsky, believes the Pope simply "made a mistake". But is that really the case?

Hardly. Pope Francis has long and systematically engaged in the "work" with the authorities of the Russian Federation. Some Uniate Telegram channels believe that the Pope's stance is influenced by a certain group within the RCC, headed by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi. He supposedly initiated the negotiation process between Russia and Ukraine. Clearly, by talking about this "influence," Ukrainian Uniates are trying to portray the Pope as an innocent victim of cunning cardinals. However, this attempt is not only unconvincing but blatantly false.

Let's remember that the Pope has met with the head of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, three times. During one of these meetings, the pontiff even gave the Russian President a medal with the words that it "depicts an angel who brings both peace and justice, solidarity and protection." The Pope also justified Russia's war against Ukraine, stating that Russia was provoked: "War is somewhat similar to marriage. To understand this, you need to study the dynamics that led to the conflict. There are international factors that contributed to the provocation of war. I have already mentioned that last December, the head of state (Putin) came to me to say that he was very concerned that NATO was barking at the gates of Russia. He expressed concern that this would provoke a war, which broke out two months later. Therefore, one cannot simplistically speculate about the causes of the conflict."

For this reason, German specialist on Eastern Europe and Stalinism, Immo Rebitschek, is convinced that Francis's words about Russia "leave no doubt that he is in solidarity with the strongest". Rebitschek added: "Ukraine has allies in Europe, but the Vatican is not among them."

Reaction of Ukrainian authorities

In other words, no matter how the Vatican tries to justify the Pope, the entire context leading up to his words about "Mother Russia" indicates that the Pontiff holds a clear pro-Russian stance on the issue of the war in Ukraine.

However, the reaction of Ukrainian authorities was quite restrained. It can be characterized more as an attempt at "anti-crisis", a media defence of the pontiff and Ukrainian Catholics, including the Uniates.

The aforementioned Kniazytsky stated that the principle of collective responsibility should not be applied to all Catholics. According to the deputy, "Identifying the Church and its leader is only possible in pseudo-charismatic authoritarian sects that operate under the guise of charismatic churches."

It's worth reminding that Kniazhytsky himself demands the UOC ban based on isolated cases of collaboration with the enemy by a few of its priests, who represent an insignificant fraction of the entire clergy. In his opinion, the principle of collective responsibility can and should be applied to the UOC but not to Catholics.

Equally strange was the reserved statement from the head of the State Ethnopolitics Service (DESS) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Viktor Yelensky. According to him, the Pope "regrets" his words about the glorification of the Russian Empire. He suggests that everyone makes mistakes in life and they should be understood and forgiven. The spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs went a bit further, expressing that he is "very upset" to hear from Pope Francis the "Russian great-power ideas, which are, in fact, the reason for Russia's chronic aggressiveness".

Equally toothless was the reaction of Ukraine's Ambassador to the Vatican, Andrii Yurash. A person who was actively involved in the ban on the UOC in his time, he simply wrote that he "fully understands the reaction of Ukrainian society to the Pope's recent statement," noting that "it's impossible to accept narratives justifying Russian imperialism, the implementation of which is currently the main cause of the war." He added that he has been "working on the problem since the first hours of its emergence". And that's it.

As we can see, none of the representatives of the Ukrainian authorities demanded an apology from the Pope, protested or expressed "strong condemnation" of his words.

Reaction of Ukrainian Catholics

Representatives of the RCC in Ukraine and the UGCC acted similarly. In general, it's not the first time that the head of the Ukrainian Uniates, Shevchuk, has had to make excuses for papal “blunders”. He attempted to do the same this time, stating that he awaits explanations from the Vatican (not from the Pope!) and later claiming that the Roman Pontiff "dwells in the sweet lie of Russian propaganda". In other words, it’s propaganda, not the Pope, that is to blame.

However, the most surprising reaction came from the head of the Conference of Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, Bishop Vitaliy Skomarovskiy, who even in this seemingly obvious situation found a way to blame not the Pope but the "Russian world". According to him, "mentions of 'Great Russia' with its great culture and humanity, unfortunately, testify to the continued existence of the myth of humanism and greatness of a state that has been waging a bloody and brutal war against Ukraine for 9 years".

He added: "As a Church and Ukrainian society, we reject and consider unacceptable any manifestations of support for the 'Russian world', which has brought so much pain and suffering to our land and our families."

That is, since the blame lies with the "Russian world," not the Pope (who simply believed in the myth of Russian humanism), the fight should exclusively be directed against the "Russian world" and its representatives.

And although the former deputy of the "Svoboda" party, Iryna Farion, believes that the Pope has "joined the Moscow Patriarchate", the authorities, Catholics, and Uniates will be fighting not him but the UOC.

Why won't Catholics demand autocephaly from Rome?

As we know, both the government and the media, as well as "experts", demand from the UOC a canonical and Eucharistic break from the ROC based on the grounds that the Moscow Patriarchate supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine. DESS even organized an "expertise" to find "connections" between the UOC and the ROC.

It would logically be assumed that similar demands (or at least wishes) would also be directed to the Catholics. But no, we do not see anything like that happening. Such initiatives are only pushed by individual clerics of the OCU. For instance, Chaplain Roman Hryshchuk called the Pope "Moscow-leaning", and urged Catholics and Uniates to realize that their spiritual centre cannot be in Rome and unite around Kyiv.

"Only in spiritual unity around the Kyivan Baptismal Font can there be its spiritual and state prosperity!" concluded Hryshchuk. However, for some reason, there has been no reaction to his call from the top officials.

Will the RCC and UGCC be banned?

Let's recall that the open persecution of the UOC began with a song about "Mother Russia," which parishioners sang at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. In fact, this song dates back to the early 2000s and is about the Virgin Mary and the revival of faith after the Soviet era. There is no mention of an empire or glorification of Russia in it. However, this was of no interest to anyone. After the scandal, searches began in the UOC eparchies, followed by real repression from the authorities.

In the case of the Pope, things are much worse. He spoke of the "great empire of Mother Russia", the "empire of great humanity" (!) after a year and a half of war by this very empire in Ukraine. And this is not a song from twenty years ago, it's a public statement of a higher clergyman. Why do we not see any corresponding actions of the authorities?

At the very least, there should currently be a talk of breaking off relations between Rome and Ukrainian Catholics and Greek Catholics. Next, following logic, a draft law on the ban on Ukrainian Churches affiliated with Rome should appear in the Verkhovna Rada. We do not observe any of this. Why?

Firstly, no matter how much the Uniates talk about their independence from Rome and their desire for "patriarchate" status, neither Shevchuk nor anyone else will risk severing ties with the Roman Catholic Church. This is because, by losing administrative ties with the Vatican, Ukrainian Uniates wouldn't be able to claim their affiliation with the "Ecumenical Church" and would remain a religious organisation meeting the "spiritual needs" of only a few western regions of Ukraine.

Secondly, despite the fact that the Pope's words could easily be interpreted as supporting Russian aggression (and therefore should be considered as an argument for banning the UGCC and RCC on Ukrainian territory), no one will do that. This is not only because many deputies advocating for the ban of the UOC are themselves Uniates but also because no one in the Ukrainian government will go against our "Western partners".

After all, Kniazhytsky reminded us that the Presidents of the US, Poland, and Lithuania are Catholics. It's unlikely that any of them would agree to have "their" denomination mistreated in Ukraine.

Thus, no one will prohibit Ukrainian Catholics, let alone criticize them. Even if someone were to have such a thought, they would be silenced very quickly. Therefore, no matter what the Pope says, no matter how much he praises the Russian Empire, the blame in Ukraine will still fall on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In Kniazhytsky's words: "I am irritated too. However, I consider the activity of the Russian Church in Ukraine as the enemy of Ukrainians, not the unacceptable mistakes of the head of the Catholic Church."

And such words are good. Because they once again prove the truth of Christ's words: "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."