Prelate says Vatican too soft on Putin

The head of Ukraine’s Greek Catholic Church has criticised the Vatican’s “ambivalence” towards the conflict in the east of his country and called on Pope Francis to take a firmer stand, writes Jonathan Luxmoore.

Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych told the French Catholic daily La Croix: “We understand Rome is trying to safeguard its ties with Moscow, but we also know Christ has always been on the side of those who suffer. In this conflict, it is Ukraine which is suffering – and the Holy See, whose diplomacy is service of the Gospel, should be at our side.

“We would like to see a less ambivalent policy on Rome’s part,”?he said, adding that the Holy See had not explicitly condemned last year’s annexation of Crimea by Russia.