This is how Bloomberg is reporting yesterday's meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pope Francis, at the Vatican: Putin Keeps Pope Waiting, Gets Told off by Francis on Ukraine.
What the Bloomberg story doesn't tell you is that Putin has to pull off a delicate balancing act when visiting the Pope.
There has been a long and intense competition between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church. As the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Russian Orthodox Church considers itself the modern heir to the Byzantine legacy and therefore a rival to the Vatican. The Vatican, not surprisingly, does not agree.
Approximately 75 percent of Russians belong to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Further, the current leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill,is believed by some to be a former member of the KGB, who holds strong geopolitical views.
When Russia annexed Crimea, Putin gave a landmark speech in which he heavily borrowed from Kirill's 2009 speeches on the importance of the Black Sea peninsula, where Grand Prince Vladimir of Rus was baptized in the year 988. In particular, Putin alluded to Kirill's previous comments that Orthodoxy transcended borders, uniting Russia with Ukraine, Belarus and the rest of the Russian world.
Thus, the Pope's comments on Ukraine could be viewed as an attack on Krill.
More than anything, what is remarkable is Putin's willingness to meet with the Pope in the first place. Russia and the Vatican only restored diplomatic relations six years ago,
-RW
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