A Russian Prince-Turned-Pennsylvania Priest

In August 2023, as Russia’s war on Ukraine raged, Pope Francis told a gathering of Russian youth, “You are heirs of the great Russia—the great Russia of saints, of kings, the great Russia of Peter the Great, Catherine II, the great, enlightened Russian Empire of so much culture, of so much humanity.” His remarks were not well-received by many Ukrainians, including the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, who said that the Pope’s praise of “the worst example of extreme Russian imperialism and nationalism,” caused “great pain and apprehension.” While the Pope’s remarks were doubtless well-intentioned, I agree with Vatican commentator George Weigel that “if Francis wanted to lift up models of ‘Russian greatness,’ why not Vladimir Solovyov…, (w)hy not Andrei Sakharov…(w)hy not the innumerable martyrs of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1920s…(w)hy not the brilliant and courageous poet Anna Akhmatova…?” To this list of true Russian heroes, however, I would add another: Prince Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin, the 18th-century pioneer priest of the Alleghenies.