Pope Leo XIV met with a top Russian Orthodox cleric, the first such visit from Moscow since the papal election, and one that comes amid strained relations with Rome due to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. Source: Catholic Review.
The Vatican noted that the Pope received Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, chair of the Moscow Patriarchate’s external relations department – who also attended the funeral of Pope Francis – in a morning audience on Saturday.
Although the Vatican press office did not provide additional comment, the Russian Orthodox Church said in a statement that Metropolitan Anthony “conveyed to the Pontiff greetings on behalf of His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’, and congratulations on his election as Primate of the Roman Catholic Church.”
In turn, said the statement, the Pope “expressed gratitude” to Patriarch Kirill and “noted the importance of developing relations with the Russian Orthodox Church.”
Those relations, fraught throughout the centuries, have been further challenged by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which continues attacks launched in 2014 and which has been declared a genocide in two joint reports from the New Lines Institute and the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights.
According to the statement, “numerous issues were raised concerning the state of the Orthodox-Catholic dialogue, as well as the conflicts occurring in the world, including in Ukraine and the Middle East.”
Pope Leo, speaking by phone on June 4 with Russian President Vladimir Putin, reiterated his earlier offer to host peace talks at the Vatican, which Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had rejected as “a bit vulgar”.
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Pope Leo meets with top Russian Orthodox cleric amid war, strained relations (By Gina Christian, OSV News via Catholic Review)
