The Vatican explained Pope Francis' words about Russia's "legacy of great empire"

The Vatican is trying to calm outrage after Pope Francis’ latest statement at an online meeting with Catholic youth in Russia. This is reported by Radio Liberty.

It is noted that the pope «never intended to encourage modern Russian aggression in Ukraine.»

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said that Pope Francis «simply wanted to praise the positive aspects of Russia’s spiritual and cultural history» when he praised Russian emperors Peter the Great and Catherine the Great.

The head of the RCC «definitely did not want to extol imperialist logic or officials who were quoted to point to certain historical periods,» Bruni said in a statement.