Pope admits Russia comments "faulty"

Russia's culture is indeed "great".

We must remember that Russia is not only Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. It is also Solzhenitsyn, Sakharov, Patriarch Tikhon, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and the great saints Seraphim of Sarov and Sergius of Radonezh. 

In 1945, the Soviet authorities in Berlin placed a billboard in front of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Berlin. The billboard had a quote from Stalin on it: "History shows that whilst Hitlers come and go, the German people and the German nation will always remain". 

Whilst I am loath to rework a quote of J. V. Stalin, I think it is obvious we can say that whilst Lenins, Stalins, and Putins may come and go, the Russian nation and the Russian people will always remain.

We hope that Russia will have a better future than the present it finds itself in.