 Simon Jenkins of The Guardian argued the West was being hypocritical , in that excessively harsh prison terms are by no means unknown in Western countries . Some in the media also raised concerns that a place of worship is not an appropriate venue for any form of protest , and that Pussy Riot 's cause did not morally justify their actions . The Roman Catholic Pope Benedict XVI expressed his solidarity with the position of the Russian Orthodox Church on the “ acts of vandalism " at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour , and expressed surprise at the reaction of some media organizations to those events . 
