Perhaps they’re most upset that in a remarkable new interview the pope still wouldn’t mention Vladimir Putin by name.
Pope Francis has walked on eggshells to avoid the wrath of Vladimir Putin and, likewise, of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has long presented an altogether intractable if not impossible set of challenges for the Roman Catholic Church, recently rearing its ugly head yet again in the Ukraine war (that’s a separate column altogether). Francis has repeatedly and delicately prayed for the people of Ukraine and of Russia, each step of the way carefully avoiding poking a stick at the bear in the living room: Vladimir Putin.
That appears to have changed.
