On Tuesday Pope Francis announced a possible upcoming meeting with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all of Russia. The pontiff said he was ready to go to Moscow for this: "You don't need protocols to talk to my brother." The Moscow Patriarchate made it clear that there was no need to rush events, stating in moderation that neither the place nor the date of this meeting has yet been determined. If, however, the meeting of the primates of the largest Christian churches - Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox - takes place in Moscow, this, according to Russian Catholics, will become a gift from God. May the Pope's second meeting with the Patriarch of Moscow and of all the Russias Kirill could happen in the near future was announced by the Pope himself during a press conference on board the plane,returning from his apostolic journey to Greece and Cyprus. A meeting with Patriarch Kirill is on the horizon, quotes the head of the Roman Catholic Church, the Russian news agency TASS. I think that next week Hilarion (head of the External Relations Department of the Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan of Volokolamsk) will come to me to arrange a possible meeting. The patriarch has to travel, I don't know exactly where, it seems, in Finland, but I'm not sure. I am always ready to go to Moscow. You don't need protocols to talk to your brother. Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk confirmed that a visit from Pope Francis is planned: “I propose to congratulate him on behalf of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill on his 85th birthday, and also to discuss awide range of issues concerning bilateral relations between our churches. Among these questions is a possible meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill in the future ". At the same time, the head of the Church's External Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate stressed, neither the place nor the date of this meeting have yet been determined. He added that this issue was not discussed bilaterally. As for Patriarch Kirill's visit to Finland, "a few years ago the patriarch received an invitation from the head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, from the Orthodox Archbishop of Finland and from the Catholic Bishop of Helsinki". However, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then, the inter-Orthodox situation has changed, a pandemic has started, Metropolitan Hilarion said.At the moment, preparations for this visit have been suspended. Priest Kirill Gorbunov, director of the information service of the Catholic Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Russia, said: "Negotiations on the Pope's meeting with Patriarch Kirill have been underway for a long time, but it is unlikely to take place at Moscow, he told Kommersant. “It would be a gift from God for Russian Catholics”. "The words of Pope Francis indicate that the next meeting of the patriarch and the pontiff is in preparation and could take place in the near future", notes Roman Lunkin, head of the Center for the study of the problems of religion and society at the Institute of 'Europe, Russian Academy of Sciences, and hints at the possibility and even the need for such a meeting in Moscow. According to the expert,"This is important in the context of the global dialogue between Pope Francis and Orthodoxy". "The popes have already established a dialogue with Constantinople, as demonstrated also by the recent meetings of Patriarch Bartholomew with the Pope, such as the visit of Francis to Greece and Cyprus". Lunkin is convinced that Ukraine will always be on the agenda of dialogue between the pope and the patriarch: "The conversation itself about the visit to Moscow and the meeting in Havana became possible precisely because the pope was not afraid to support Moscow on the Ukrainian question, to recognize the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Patriarchate of Moscow as a canonical church and the Eastern Rite Catholic Church (Greek-Catholics) as an obsolete instrument of the mission ”."The popes have already established a dialogue with Constantinople, as demonstrated also by the recent meetings of Patriarch Bartholomew with the Pope, such as the visit of Francis to Greece and Cyprus". Lunkin is convinced that Ukraine will always be on the agenda of dialogue between the pope and the patriarch: "The conversation itself about the visit to Moscow and the meeting in Havana became possible precisely because the pope was not afraid to support Moscow on the Ukrainian question, to recognize the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Patriarchate of Moscow as a canonical church and the Eastern Rite Catholic Church (Greek-Catholics) as an obsolete instrument of the mission ”."The popes have already established a dialogue with Constantinople, as demonstrated also by the recent meetings of Patriarch Bartholomew with the Pope, such as the visit of Francis to Greece and Cyprus". Lunkin is convinced that Ukraine will always be on the agenda of dialogue between the pope and the patriarch: "The conversation itself about the visit to Moscow and the meeting in Havana became possible precisely because the pope was not afraid to support Moscow on the Ukrainian question, to recognize the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Patriarchate of Moscow as a canonical church and the Eastern Rite Catholic Church (Greek-Catholics) as an obsolete instrument of the mission ”.Lunkin is convinced that Ukraine will always be on the agenda of dialogue between the pope and the patriarch: "The conversation itself about the visit to Moscow and the meeting in Havana became possible precisely because the pope was not afraid to support Moscow on the Ukrainian question, to recognize the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Patriarchate of Moscow as a canonical church and the Eastern Rite Catholic Church (Greek-Catholics) as an obsolete instrument of the mission ”.Lunkin is convinced that Ukraine will always be on the agenda of dialogue between the pope and the patriarch: "The conversation itself about the visit to Moscow and the meeting in Havana became possible precisely because the pope was not afraid to support Moscow on the Ukrainian question, to recognize the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Patriarchate of Moscow as a canonical church and the Eastern Rite Catholic Church (Greek-Catholics) as an obsolete instrument of the mission ”.recognize the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate as a canonical church and the Eastern Rite Catholic Church (Greek-Catholics) as an obsolete instrument of mission ".recognize the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate as a canonical church and the Eastern Rite Catholic Church (Greek-Catholics) as an obsolete instrument of mission ".
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07 December 2021 On Tuesday, Pope Francis announced a possible upcoming meeting with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all of Russia.
The pontiff said he was ready to go to Moscow for this: "You don't need protocols to talk to my brother."
The Moscow Patriarchate made it clear that there was no need to rush events, stating in moderation that neither the place nor the date of this meeting has yet been determined.
If, however, the meeting of the primates of the largest Christian churches - Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox - takes place in Moscow, this, according to Russian Catholics, will become a gift from God.
That the Pope's second meeting with the Patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias Kirill could take place in the near future was announced by the Pope himself during a press conference on board the plane, returning from his apostolic trip to Greece and Cyprus. A meeting with Patriarch Kirill is on the horizon, quotes the head of the Roman Catholic Church, the Russian news agency TASS. I think that next week Hilarion (head of the External Relations Department of the Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan of Volokolamsk) will come to me to arrange a possible meeting. The patriarch has to travel, I don't know exactly where, it seems, in Finland, but I'm not sure. I am always ready to go to Moscow. There is no need for protocols to talk to your brother.
Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk confirmed that a visit from Pope Francis is planned: “I propose to congratulate him on behalf of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill on his 85th birthday, and also to discuss a wide range of issues concerning relations bilateral between our churches. Among these questions is a possible meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill in the future ". At the same time, the head of the External Relations Department of the Church of the Moscow Patriarchate stressed, neither the place nor the date of this meeting have yet been determined. He added that this issue was not discussed bilaterally.
As for Patriarch Kirill's visit to Finland, "a few years ago the patriarch received an invitation from the head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland,
from the Orthodox Archbishop of Finland and from the Catholic Bishop of Helsinki".
However, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then, the inter-Orthodox situation has changed, a pandemic has started, Metropolitan Hilarion said.
At the moment, preparations for this visit have been suspended.
Priest Kirill Gorbunov, director of the information service of the Catholic Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Russia, said: "Negotiations on the Pope's meeting with Patriarch Kirill have been underway for a long time, but it is unlikely to take place at Moscow, he told Kommersant.
“It would be a gift from God for Russian Catholics”.
"The words of Pope Francis indicate that the next meeting of the patriarch and the pontiff is in preparation and could take place in the near future", notes Roman Lunkin, head of the Center for the study of the problems of religion and society at the Institute of 'Europe, Russian Academy of Sciences, and hints at the possibility and even the need for such a meeting in Moscow. According to the expert, "this is important in the context of the global dialogue between Pope Francis and Orthodoxy". "The popes have already established a dialogue with Constantinople, as demonstrated also by the recent meetings of Patriarch Bartholomew with the Pope, such as the visit of Francis to Greece and Cyprus". Lunkin is convinced that Ukraine will always be on the agenda of dialogue between the pope and the patriarch:"The conversation itself about the visit to Moscow and the meeting in Havana became possible precisely because the pope was not afraid to support Moscow on the Ukrainian question, recognize the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate as a canonical church and the Catholic Church of Eastern Rite (Greek-Catholics) an obsolete instrument of the mission ".
