Pope Francis spoke "unChristain" words
in condemning what he called the "cruelty" of ethnic Chechen and
Buryat soldiers fighting for Russia in Ukraine, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference Thursday.
Lavrov said the condemnation by the pope lessened his chances of
being able to mediate in the Ukraine-Russia war.
The pope, he said, says he wants to broker peace but "he made
unChristian statements" in denouncing the alleged war crimes
committed by the two nationalities against Ukrainian citizens,
Lavrov said.
"The Vatican has said that this will not be repeated and that
there was probably a misunderstanding, but that does not help
increase the authority of the pontifical State," he said.
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