"It's a shame that the Pope faces another communication crisis," - Myroslav Marynovych

"I feel sorry that the Pope once again went through a communication crisis. Were I in his place, I would remove from my circle of advisers the man who presented the information about Daria Dugina being a "victim of the war", i.e. that she became a "victim of Ukrainian terrorists". The fact that this advisor has taken to reading the Russian media would be the mildest reproach possible. The number of communication failures on the part of the Pope should have signaled that the situation requires immediate correction. However, I can reproach the Ukrainian media as well. They all talk exclusively about the Pope's support for the "innocent war victim" Dugina, yet fail to mention his words in defense of Ukrainian prisoners of war. However, this information was recently conveyed to him by a delegation of the Ukrainian military, and the Pope did not ignore this pain," while commenting on Pope's words, Myroslav Marynovych added: "Pope Francis fundamentally does not want to act as a judge."

He said that Ukrainian Greek Catholics find it difficult to deal with this situation. Some of them simply do not understand what is happening in the Vatican; others are convinced that we are dealing with the influence of the Russian special services.

"Obviously, I do not have evidence of any Russian agency, but I can clearly state that both the Holy Father and the Vatican Curia should seriously reconsider all aspects of their "consideration for Moscow", which indicates the great and still not overcome the inertia of Ostpolitik," says Mr. Marynovych.

According to him, Ukrainian Greek Catholics feel the greatest tension of discontent when diplomacy prevails over the logic of faith in the attitude of the Vatican.

In June, Mr. Marynovych already had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis and tell him that "the spiritual Head for Greek Catholics is not the Head of the Vatican State, but the Bishop of Rome. Combining these statuses sometimes brings positive results, but sometimes it causes tensions."

Despite everything, the human rights defender emphasizes that the Pope is not an enemy of Ukraine. He simply "is trapped between crooked mirrors of communication". He is surprised that the Pope did not come into contact with the Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav and ask his opinion.

"Wasn't it obvious after Ukrainians' previous protests that we are dealing with a typical communication crisis that should be overcome by expanding the network of contacts?... As we can see, establishing much wider channels of mutual communication is an urgent task for both the Holy Father and the Heads of Catholic Churches in Ukraine," emphasizes the vice-rector of UCU.

Myroslav Marynovych also added that Greek Catholics have long been waiting for Pope Francis' visit to Ukraine, as it would illustrate his solidarity with the victims of the Russian war and Russian war crimes.

According to Mr. Marynovych, today, the unambiguity of such aspiration has somewhat faltered. Everything depends on the message the Pope would come to Ukraine with. If it were another generalized "we are all to blame", such a visit could only worsen the situation. Therefore, much will depend on how well such a visit is prepared.