The Pope and His KGB Buddy

13 thoughts on “The Pope and His KGB Buddy”

1. Don’t you read “Salon.com”? If you did, you’d realize how religious Putin is, and how much you’ve misjudged the current influence of the Russian Orthodox Church:

   “The church is experiencing something of a revival in Russia, with the strong support of deeply religious President Vladimir Putin, who has woven religious themes into both his domestic and foreign policies and brought other devout figures into his inner circle. ” (from an article posted today)

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   1. This was written by somebody certifiable. I will never understand the need to write about things people have no knowledge about or interest in. Deeply religious Putin is like saying “profoundly modest Trump” or “deeply pro-capitalist Bernie Sanders.”

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2. To paraphrase The Princess Bride, “Never go up against a Jesuit when theology is on the line.” Edited by yours truly for emphasis:

   One conclusion I draw from the way the synod unfolded is that Pope Francis seems to be comfortable leaving these large questions open for conversation for the moment—like any skillful negotiator, he knows that the mere act of having an open dialogue is positive progress in itself. “Personally I would have been very worried and saddened if there hadn’t been these . . . animated discussions,” he said after the synod had concluded, “if everyone had agreed with one another or had kept silent in a false and acquiescent peace.” The Pope’s way of handling the divided synod demonstrates not only his tolerance for the two sides of the dispute about the Church’s attitude to previously condemned groups, but also his craftiness in moving those two sides towards a resolution that fits his vision for the Church.

   https://blogs.harvard.edu/hnmcp/hnmcp/blog/pope-francis-the-great-negotiator/

   There’s a reason Hitler referred to Jesuits as “Those black crows”. And you worry that he won’t be able to handle the leader of a religion with 7.5% of the ROC membership?

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   1. The Pope already got handled by these people : https://clarissasblog.com/2015/06/12/putin-uses-the-pope/

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      1. Saw this, it’s not as pessimistic as you are:

         http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-10/putin-keeps-pope-waiting-gets-told-off-by-francis-on-ukraine

         The meeting got off to a chilly start. Francis looked solemn as he greeted Putin in German with a simple “welcome” in his study at the Apostolic Palace. Putin, who picked up the language as a KGB agent in East Germany, responded with a gesture of thanks.

         The two men sat on opposite sides of the pope’s desk, gazing at each other in silence as they waited for journalists and photographers to leave. Once alone, they cut to the chase.

         On Ukraine, “the Holy Father stated the need to commit to a sincere and great effort to achieve peace, and it was agreed it was important to rebuild a climate of dialogue and that all parties commit to enforce the Minsk accords,” referring to the cease-fire deal signed in February, the pope’s spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said in a statement.

         I don’t know what you expected the Pope to do instead of what he said at the meeting in question.

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         1. I expected him not to meet with this creep and not to let himself be used for propagandistic purposes.

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            1. Good point — of course Putin isn’t going to pay any more heed to the Pope’s lectures that he does to John Kerry’s or Obama’s. All this meeting does is once again demonstrate Putin’s ability to show how important he is on the world stage.

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               1. That’s what I’m saying! Putin will spin any sign of attention as a huge victory for himself. The fellow worked for the KGB, he’s incapable of taking religious folks seriously.

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                  1. This is interesting. Was German the only language Putin and Francis I have in common? From Vatican.com

                     Pope Francis’s native language is Spanish but he also speaks Italian, Portuguese, French, German, Ukrainian and Piedmontese (a language spoken in the Piedmont, an area in northern Italy). Of course Pope Francis is also conversant in Latin- the official language of the Holy See.

                     http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/07/17/the-popes-sainthood-decree-for-a-ukrainian-legend-has-a-political-edge/

                     <

                     blockquote>Sheptysky’s sainthood cause was launched in 1958, under Pope John XXIII, but it stalled at the request of the late Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński of Poland. A staunch Polish nationalist, Wyszyński feared that making a saint out of Sheptytsky could not only provoke the Russians, but also impugn Poland’s on-again, off-again history of colonizing Western Ukraine.

                     That 57-year logjam has angered Greek Catholics, for whom Sheptytsky’s case for a halo is a slam-dunk. The delay can only be explained today in terms of not wanting to upset either the Russian government or the Russian Orthodox Church, an important interlocutor for the Vatican in the quest for greater Christian unity.

                     By now, there are three generations of Ukrainian Catholics who have ground their teeth over what they see as an injustice driven by an excess of political caution. A 1997 editorial in The Ukrainian Weekly captured that frustration by asking, “Will the Vatican do the right thing?”

                     Those Ukrainians likely won’t forget it was Pope Francis who finally moved the ball. A Sheptytsky Institute in Canada, reflecting the sentiments of the Ukrainian diaspora, issued a statement on Friday saying that “during this time of foreign aggression against Ukraine … the recognition brings particular consolation.”

                     If it’s a mistake to conclude that the primary reason for which Francis signed off on Sheptytsky’s decree was political, equally it would be naïve to think this savvy Jesuit pontiff wasn’t aware of its political dimension.

                     The fact he didn’t let that stop him may well tell Ukrainians everything they wanted to know about where he stands.

                     John L. Allen Jr., associate editor, specializes in coverage of the Vatican.

                     <

                     blockquote>

                     Now, it’s not unusual for a Catholic media outlet to praise a living Pope, whether he merits in this case is another question.

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3. Whatever you think of this Pope and this Patriarch, their meeting will be a major milestone in the history of the Catholic Church. It will be the FIRST meeting of a Pope and a Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church since the “great schism” in 1054, when the two branches of the Catholic Church split apart almost a thousand years ago.

   The meeting may not accomplish much, but it will definitely become a prominent date in Church history.

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   1. That’s exactly what this prick of a Pope cares about. Milestones, photo ops, praise, fame, headlines. Typical vain Argentinean.

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      1. Do vain Argentinians learn Ukrainian for nothing, Clarissa? Besides he not only speaks Italian but the dialect of Piedmontese, which indicates to me he’s more like an Italian-Argentinian than a monolingual Argentinian.

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         1. Yes, Argentineans are the only Spanish-speaking Italians in the world and they are very proud of it. 🙂

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