Pope Francis has become the target of irony in the Polish press, with the conservative magazine Wprost attacking him after his latest controversial comments about Russia.

Monday’s cover of this weekly shows the sovereign pontiff aboard his Vatican-flagged popemobile, but the vehicle is placed on the chassis of a Russian tank or armored vehicle with the letter “Z” painted on it, one of Rome’s symbols. Russian invasion of Ukraine.

A conservative Polish magazine targeted the sovereign pontiff as he has already come under fire from several quarters after urging young Russian Catholics to remember that they are the heirs of tsars like Peter the First.

“You are the heirs of great Russia: the great Russia of saints, tsars, the great Russia of Peter the First, Catherine II, the great Russian Empire, culture, so much culture, so much humanity. You are the heirs of the great mother Russia. Go forward,” said, among other things, the leader of the Catholic Church.

Both Peter the Great and Catherine II expanded the Russian Empire, including parts of modern Ukrainian territory. The Ukrainian government called Pope Francis’ comments in a video message to young Catholics who gathered in St. Petersburg last week “deeply regrettable.”

The Vatican later clarified that the sovereign pontiff did not intend to glorify Russian imperialism in any way.

“The Pope aimed to encourage the youth to preserve and promote all that is positive in the great Russian cultural and spiritual heritage, and he certainly did not want to get carried away by imperialist logic and statesmen (whom he) mentioned to point to some historical events. reference periods,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said on Tuesday.

The Kremlin praised Pope Francis’ “very, very pleasant” comments

Despite the Vatican’s clarification, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov last week praised Pope Francis for his comments.

“The sovereign pontiff knows the history of Russia, and that is very good. It has deep roots, and our heritage is not limited to Peter (the Great) or Catherine, it is much older,” he said.

Russians traditionally claim their descent from a group of medieval principalities formed around Kyiv, collectively known as Kyivan Rus. After the start of the war in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin stated several times that this country has no traditions of its own statehood and that Russians and Ukrainians are one people.

Historians and Western scholars prove that these statements of his are false and an example of historical revisionism in favor of Moscow. However, Dmytro Peskov mentioned last Tuesday “the Russian state, activist groups, schools and universities” who, he said, “carry this legacy to our youth now, reminding them of it.”

“And the fact that the sovereign pontiff is in unison with these efforts is very, very nice,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman emphasized.

Another victim of Russian imperialism summoned the representative of the Vatican for a “discussion”

A day after the comments from the Vatican and the Kremlin, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry announced that it had invited the Apostolic Nuncio, the Vatican’s top representative in the Baltic country, for a “discussion”.

The territories of Lithuania and Poland were annexed to the Russian Empire in the 18th century by Catherine II. These countries broke away after World War I, after two 19th-century rebellions against the empire were brutally suppressed.

All the Baltic states were annexed by Stalin after the outbreak of World War II as part of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, while the territory of Poland was divided between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia.

Lithuania, a nation of 2.8 million people, three-quarters of whom identify as Catholic, has been a staunch critic of Russia and a supporter of Ukraine in both the European Union and NATO. The Catholic Church is still respected in the country for its anti-communist and pro-independence stance during its time in the Soviet Union.

During this period, the Vatican maintained Lithuania’s diplomatic representation at the Holy See, as it did not recognize Lithuania’s accession to the Soviet Union.

Pope Francis on Monday concluded his apostolic visit to Mongolia, where he had several meetings with representatives of the local Catholic community and other faiths, during which the sovereign pontiff called for harmony between religions.

The spiritual leader of the Catholic Church has left the Asian country and is heading to Rome after an official farewell ceremony organized at Genghis Khan Airport in Ulaanbaatar.

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