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Forging a new Vatican-Kremlin modus vivendi? Gazeta Wyborcza
columnist Tomasz Bielecki calls the idea a 'delusion' for both parties.

 

 

Putin and Pope: 'Angels of Peace' in the Vatican (Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland)

 

"Putin deludes himself by thinking his visit to the pope will validate the Kremlin’s foreign policy. The Vatican, in turn, is thinking of its role as mediator of international disputes. … For several years now, Putin has been burnishing an image deeply rooted in the days of Tsarist Russia as a defender of Christians in the Middle East. So when it comes to Middle East affairs, papal diplomacy is looking for cooperation with Russia. … An attempt to forge such an alliance with Putin would be an even greater delusion than believing that gentle persuasion would turn the Kremlin into a sincere promoter of peace in Ukraine."

 

By Tomasz Bielecki

                                  http://worldmeets.us/images/Tomasz-Bielecki-big_mug.jpg

 

Translated By Ludmila Gustaw-Edwards

 

June 16, 2015

 

Poland - Gazeta Wyborcza - Original Article (Polish)

"Mutual Delusions" is how Marta Dassu, former deputy foreign minister of Italy, referred to last Wednesday's meeting between Pope Francis and Vladimir Putin. Putin deludes himself by thinking his visit to the pope will validate the Kremlin’s foreign policy. The Vatican, in turn, is thinking of its role as mediator of international disputes. Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin would like to posit a "papal mediation center" within the Roman Curia to protect "God’s gift of peace." That would usher the Vatican into the center of global diplomacy.

 

Barack Obama thanked Francis for his help bringing about a thaw between the United States and Cuba. We don't know the details surrounding papal diplomacy in Havana, but the Cuban success may fuel the peace-making aspirations of the Holy See. The trouble is that the post-Soviet region is an entirely different kettle of fish – and although the Vatican doesn't want to say it out loud, Obama’s intentions toward Cuba are entirely different from Putin’s intentions toward Ukraine.

 

 

 

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has sought to convince Francis to speak out openly against Russian military intervention in Ukraine, but Shewchuk has had little success. He criticized Francis after his February statements on the war which excluded the issue of Russian involvement. In turn, the Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, at one with the Kremlin propaganda machine, praised the pope for his "balanced attitude" toward events in Ukraine.

 

Francis easily avoided the second impression during his pontificate meeting with Putin, who came to Italy to foment opposition over E.U. sanctions against Russia. The official reason for Putin's visit was EXPO 2015 in Milan, where Putin met with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. He then flew to Rome to meet the pope. At the moment, Putin’s protégés are again rekindling violence in Donbas and Russia is concentrating its forces along the border. What does Francis make of all this? According to the Vatican press service, the pope called on Putin to make "great and sincere efforts" to achieve peace in Ukraine, and gave him a medallion with an angel of peace, which can be interpreted as a kind of admonition.

Posted By Worldmeets.US

 

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The IMF, the Pope and FIFA: 'Stalin's Physics' Still Hold (Izvestia, Russia)

[Click Here to Read]

 

For several years now, Putin has been burnishing an image deeply rooted in the days of Tsarist Russia as a defender of Christians in the Middle East. So when it comes to Middle East affairs, papal diplomacy is looking for cooperation with Russia. "Listen to the Pope," is how Putin admonished E.U. diplomats at the 2013 G-20 Summit in St. Petersburg, with quotes from Francis' letter warning against a "futile quest for a military solution." That was with regard to planned [Western] rocket attacks on the military installations of Bashar al-Assad in retaliation for the use of chemical weapons in Syria, which, despite protests from the Kremlin, were being planned at the time by Washington, London and Paris. Ultimately, plans for Western intervention fell through, but in the case of Syria, the angels of peace are farther than ever from victory.

 

To make matters worse, the Kremlin now uses religion and code words to defend traditional values and Russian identity against the "depravity of the West" and to diminish civil liberties in Russia. It's quite a trap for the Catholic Church to seek to collaborate with Orthodox Christianity. The collective defense of conservatively understood "Christian values" is quite tempting. However, an attempt to forge such an alliance with Putin would be an even greater delusion than believing that gentle persuasion would turn the Kremlin into a sincere promoter of peace in Ukraine.

 

 

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[Posted By Worldmeets.US June 16, 2015, 7:56am]

 

 

 

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