The Vatican's official website was momentarily unavailable on Wednesday, displaying a "404 Error" message to those who visit it. The Holy See suspects that it was due to a cyberattack. There are ongoing technical investigations regarding the attempt to access the site, says Matteo Bruni, the Hole See's press director.
Cyberattack Against the Vatican
Speculations have formed due to the timing of the attack, which was just days after Russia released a formal protest, responding to the Pope's criticism of Russia's violence against Ukraine. This was a surprising change for some, seeing as Pope Francis implied beforehand that Ukraine initiated the conflict.
According to Gizmodo, the Pope believed that the violence against Ukrainians lies with ethnic minorities such as the Chechens and Buryats. He explicitly expressed that it was the Russian state who invaded and that he did not specify the name and surname as it was already known who was to blame.
The Pope's decision to not explicitly call out the Russian president's name has faced some backlash. Critics expressed that this risked his moral authority. This may be due to the fact that the Vatican must stay neutral in a conflict in hopes that the church can take on a constructive role in potential peace talks.
The Vatican Called Out Russia
The Vatican condemned the actions of Moscow against Ukraine in late August. Strong words like "barbaric," "senseless," "repugnant," and "sacrilegious" were used against the Russian Federation's actions. That marks the first stone cast by the Pope against Russia, which conflicts with the Vatican's policy of staying neutral in conflicts.
Ukrainian officials also conveyed their dismay against Pope Francis' statement, saying that Daria Dugina was an "innocent victim." According to New York Times, Dugina was a Russian ultranationalist who sided with the invasion of Ukraine, eventually killed by a car bomb. Ukraine's foreign minister expressed its disappointment with the Vatican's ambassador.
The editorial director of Vatican News, Andrea Tornielli, said that the pontiff wanted to be close to the innocent Ukrainian victims of war. Pope Francis even stated that the innocents pay for war and that we must think about the reality of it. We say to each other that war is madness. This statement may have been to ease the effects of the controversy, reports say.
Public discussions about the pontiff's statements sparked debates, discussing the political significance of it. Some say that it was only in the defense of human life and not a political stance.
Pope Francis hoped that he would be able to meet with Patriarch Kirill, who was the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church. They spoke via video, where Kirill read prepared statements that reflected the arguments of Russian president Vladimir Putin. Pope Francis went ahead and called him out, saying that he could not be Putin's altar boy.
In an interview, the pontiff expressed that he and Kirill had a good relationship. Although, he also said that the patriarch's position in the war was conditioned by his homeland. Regardless, he also noted that he was not an indecent man, and that each person's moral responsibilities are in the depth of their heart.
