On Wednesday, Pope Francis snatched 20 years of Western involvement in Afghanistan and mistakenly cited Russian President Vladimir Putin in the process.
The 84-year-old pontiff was asked during a radio interview broadcast in Spain on Wednesday about his thoughts on this week’s withdrawal of troops by the US and its allies, which ended America’s longest war. .
He said his thoughts are best summed up in a quote from Germany’s Angela Merkel, whom he called “one of the world’s greatest political figures,” before citing Putin’s latest attack on the West.
“We must put an end to the irresponsible policy of intervening from outside and building democracy in other countries, ignoring the traditions of the peoples,” the pope said, using his own translation into Spanish.
The words were uttered on August 20 by the Russian president in the presence of Merkel, during her visit to Moscow.
Putin had harshly criticized the West for Afghanistan, saying the Taliban’s swept sweep over the country has proved the futility of attempts to implement democracy.
Merkel, whom Francis believed she was quoting, had urged Russia to use its contacts with the Taliban to make sure Afghan citizens who helped the West could leave Afghanistan.
Far from the quote Francis attributed to Merkel, the German leader had insisted that “we did not want to force any system in Afghanistan.”
“But we saw that millions of girls were happy to go to school and that women could participate. There are many in Afghanistan who are now very, very unhappy with the events,” he said about the threats to this new way of life since retirement.
The pope’s interview with Spanish channel COPE took place at the Vatican late last week and aired Wednesday after reviewing the content.
He said he believed the top Vatican diplomat offered to participate in Afghanistan to make sure locals do not suffer and called on Christians around the world to participate in “prayer, penance and fasting” in the face of events. in Afghanistan.
Francis also used the interview to deny a report in the Italian newspaper Libero that he planned to resign, saying he leads “a completely normal life” after bowel surgery in July.
“I don’t know where they got it from last week that I was going to give up … it didn’t even cross my mind,” he insisted.
With publishing cables